


Dreamer

by Rose84



Series: Arielle Gilbert [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22012990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose84/pseuds/Rose84
Summary: Arielle's in New York to live her dream and experience a new world. Hopefully without any problems and supernatural. Follow her as she conquers her fears and builds her strength.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character/Original Character
Series: Arielle Gilbert [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541326
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

Every dream begins with someone who believes in a vivid future, never giving up and always creating a new one. With the strength, patience, and passion to reach for the stars and to change the world in their own way. A dream is a reality in waiting and a dreamer the architect of it.

I remember reading about the greatest artists in the world when I was 10 and telling my dad how someday I would have a whole book about myself and my art. My dad had smiled and said 'Of course honey. If you want the whole world will be yours.' I had beamed at him happy that he believed in me. 

When I had told my dad about wanting to go study art in New York for two months alone; he had freaked out and said no. That was two years ago it took me a year and a half to convince him. I remember how happy I was that day and how sad he was. Now here I am so close to my dream, but he isn't here to see me go; to help me overcome my fear of being completely and utterly alone. All I have is the words he told me while helping me apply for the course. 

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.'


	2. Chapter 1 - Welcome To New York

After 3 hours of flight and songs, I finally reached New York; LaGuardia airport. From there I had to take a train to Brooklyn which is where my course and studio apartment were. I finished all the security checks got my bags and decided to see Queens while I am here. After asking at the LGA terminal I found out that reaching Brooklyn is going to be very complicated. (I found all the info on Google so I'm sorry if it's wrong) First I had to take a bus to Roosevelt Av. From there I had to walk to Woodside and take a train to Penn station. Then I had to walk to 34 St- Penn Station and board a train and get out Kingston Ave & Fulton St at SE corner. I wrote it all down and tried to decide if I should just take a cab which would be $40 approx.

I decided to take a taxi to Brooklyn since it was simple and I could see New York while traveling too. It took about 40-45 minutes to reach Brooklyn and another 10 minutes to reach my apartment complex. I paid the taxi driver and headed to my apartment on the 4th floor. I reached the apartment and unlocked the door there was a small passage which had a door on the left a bit away from the main. I opened it to find a washroom. I closed the door and went up the passage to the main part of the apartment. It was amazing not too small or too big. There was a bed with black sheets next to it there was a bedside table and lamp and a bookshelf. There was also a small well-equipped kitchen along with a small table and chair. There was also a white sofa for reading. I loved it and I knew that dad and Jeremy designed it together since it had everything I would need. There was a door next to the kitchen which had a small walk-in closet.

Finally being done unpacking and organizing everything I decided to go get a few groceries and get acquainted with the area as well as getting something to eat. I locked the apartment and took the left after leaving the apartment complex. I started walking there were a lot of small shops on the road a few clothing shops, boutique's and bakeries. I found a small bistro and decided to get something to eat. I went in and sat down soon a waitress came and I ordered a coffee and some pasta. Soon the food came and I ate quickly since I wanted to explore the area and settle in. After eating I kept walking and found a minimart. I went in and started listing what I would need. After an hour I was done and started walking back home.

Entering my apartment I set the groceries down and then unloaded them. After being done I decided to read something from the books dad had stocked in the bookshelf. I choose a book called The Book Thief; I had heard of it but never had the chance to read it. I took it out of the shelf and made myself comfortable on the couch while setting an alarm for 6:30 since I have a habit of losing myself in a book and forgetting to even eat and yes that has happened many times.

I had finished half the book when my phone rang; it was Jer. "Hey Jer, I'm sorry I didn't call," I said as soon as I answered. "Hey, Elle. It's fine knowing you, you probably went to roam around. How is it? Do you like it there?" Jer asked as he chuckled. "Yeah, I love it. Thanks. It's amazing Jer. You okay?" I ask him before hearing more voices "Hey Ari." Three voices screamed. "Hey, guys. Miss me?" I ask them. "Of course Ari. So much. These boys are useless I can't believe you left me with them." Care said while Jer, Matt, and Ty scoffed. "Sorry Care. I'll make it up." I tell her and instantly regret it. "Yes, you will. Any plans? Cause you could visit a club legally." That's not how it works. "Care going to a club with fake I.D that says I'm of legal age doesn't make it legal." I tell her before continuing, "Anyways since tomorrow is a Sunday I was thinking of taking a tour of New York. There are tour buses that take you to all the major spots in New York so I'm going to do that. I also plan on seeing a Broadway show once." I go to the kitchen and start making some coffee while debating what to have for dinner. "Great that means you're free tonight." I know exactly where this is going. "You can try something new and go have some fun." They are all in this. "If I say I'll think about it will you stop this?" I ask them and get a yes from everyone. "Okay, I'll think about it. Happy?" They actually cheered. Idiots. 

When the phone call ended I decided to make a sandwich for myself. I sat down on the sofa since there was a full window there which made it seem like a really cool window seat. I ate and watched as people walked around along with cars going up and down continuously. New York was like a whole new world everyone here seemed to be in a hurry. I didn't know anyone here and no one knew me, while in Mystic Falls everyone knew everyone. I was scared, looking through the window I realized how truly alone I was here. I was also scared of failing my parents and even Jer by not doing as well at the course as they expected. I sighed and then cleaned my plate before sitting back on the sofa. Should I go or not? A club doesn't sound like a bad idea, I could just go dancing it's not a rule that I have to drink. Ugh.

After a lot of thinking and sighing and looking through my closet, I finally decided to go to a club nearby which I found after searching online. It was a ten-minute walk so I could bail out anytime. I decided to wear a dress which had a maroon blouse and a nude skirt with a black belt. I also wore matching maroon shoes. I had purchased this with Care I also took a small black clutch. I put my phone and fake I.D in it. Along with that, I put a stake which believe it or not I found in the apartment closet along with vervain darts? I think. Seems like dad was going to tell me about this soon. I took two small stakes and two darts. After taking a last look in the mirror I decided to leave before I can change my mind. I lock the apartment and head on down. I had noted the route I needed to take and so I began walking leisurely since I wanted to have time to look around too.


	3. Chapter 2 - Clubbing, Yay! Not

I was almost at the club and had turned around thrice to go back home; I'm going to do this. Nope, I'm not. While I was having a mental debate on whether or not to go I had reached the club and the sign was flashing brightly. I can do this, I really can't, but I will. I made my mind and went towards the line which thankfully wasn't that long since I chose a lesser-known club to avoid too many people. I waited for about 15 minutes before reaching the front where I showed my I.D and it actually worked. Of course, it did Care is a perfectionist. I entered the club and it was a blinding sight, the amazing lights, the loud music and the overwhelming crowd of people. I had never done anything like this before and I was getting a bit excited. I can do it.

I didn't really know what to do so I first went and sat at the bar. "What can I get for you?" What? Right, I'm at the bar. "Uh... I'm fine thanks." I was getting a bit scared, I did not think this through. "First time? If so then just relax. Here have a drink, try not to look so lost. That helps too." I took the drink not having any plans of actually drinking it. "Thanks. It's easier said than done though. I feel lost as I should." "That's fine just don't show it. No one's going to bother you they are too drunk to do that." He wasn't wrong everyone seemed drunk beyond conscious thought. Drink or not? I look back at the bartender to see him serving someone else. Screw it and with that thought, I swallowed the whole drink and gagged. Ugh. I hate Care and Ty for this. 

After the drink, I decided to try and dance since I have only had drinks twice. After a while, I started seeing a bit more clearly which is odd. I had started dancing with some girl and had no idea what I was doing but this was actually fun. After dancing a while I went and sat down on one of the couches lined along the walls and in the corner. I wasn't actually feeling drunk which was odd. I decided to go get water, do they serve water at a bar? only one way to find out. I went to the bar and the same bartender from before came and raised an eyebrow at me. "Another drink?" He asks with an amused smile. "No thanks. Do you have water?" I ask him and sit down. "Yeah, we do. I thought this was your first time. You don't seem drunk at all." He says. Yeah apparently I have a high tolerance or I'm just weird. He hands me a water bottle. "Thanks. I never did say it was my first time, you assumed." I tell him and sip my water. He flashes me a smile then goes back to work. 

I went back to the dance floor after resting a while. I was dancing with a group who seemed to be already drunk and it was actually a lot of fun and the people were great, they actually were in college; unlike me who was just pretending. I felt my phone vibrate as I went for the bar to get something non-alcoholic to drink. I took a different route and headed towards the bathroom instead. I checked my phone to see it was just an e-mail from the head of the course I was going to attend. It said I had to be at the campus by 7:30 and a list of things I was supposed to have. I read it over before putting my phone back in my clutch and taking a look at myself in the mirror. I washed my face seeing as it was covered in sweat. I checked the time to see it was almost 11 and decided to go home.

I left the bathroom and then headed towards the door when I remembered I actually have to pay for the drink I had and went to the bar instead. "Hey. How much am I supposed to pay?" I asked the bartender. He smiled and told me the group I was dancing with already paid. Okay then. I went ahead and thanked them for paying as well as letting me join them. As I walked out the door I laughed since I hadn't only entered a club illegally, but I had also made friends which was odd for me. As I started walking back I noticed for the first time that the club was actually in the back of an alley and was very much empty. I got worried a bit since the silence was eerie and kept walking. I heard a whoosh behind me and kept walking having a similar feeling to the one I had when I met Damon. I heard it again closer this time and stopped for just a second before continuing and opening my clutch to grab a stake and a vervain dart. 

I heard the whoosh again before stopping as the vampire was standing in front of me. It was a man with blue hair and red vampire eyes at display. I gripped the stake tighter and tried to control my breathing while trying to remember my lessons. I gasped as the next thing I know I'm up against a wall and the dart is no longer in my grip. The man smiles gleefully and sniffs my neck. Gross. No, Ari focus. He looked in my eyes and said, "You won't move, talk or scream." I realized that he was trying to compel me and so stayed still while trying to come up with a plan. He took a step back and looked at me up and down and I got more scared when he licked his lips. I got my thoughts back in focus and decided to kick him when he steps closer before stabbing him and then if I'm lucky grabbing the second dart and emptying it in him and then hopefully killing him. I know that's a stupid plan but I'm way too scared to think of anything else. 

He started at me for what seemed like forever before stepping close enough that there was only air between us. I gathered my courage and then kicked him hard before punching him and stabbing him. He screamed as the stake pierced his neck, he clutched his neck while I started to fumble with my clutch and grabbing a dart. I got it just as I felt a hand around my neck. Shit. He squeezed my neck as I lost my breath and quickly stabbed the dart into his waist which was close to my hand and he screamed again, "You little..." He didn't get to finish his sentence as I stabbed the second stake through his chest but it didn't seem to reach his heart as he screamed and bought his hands up to try and get himself free. I dug the stake deeper as he grunted before finally his hands fell to the side and his skin turned ash-like and grey. I let go and stepped back as I stared at the body of someone I killed. Oh my god, I killed someone. No, I killed a vampire. Why does it feel so wrong then? Oh my god. I felt tears fall down my cheek and felt a bit bad. I feel bad for killing a vampire, I almost laugh at that. I feel bad for killing someone who would have killed me without feeling anything. 

I started to get up when I heard clapping along with someone saying wow and turned around to see two figures walking towards me. I looked at them frightened since I didn't have any more weapons. I took a step back as they got closer. "We don't mean any harm. That was quite a kill." One of them said. He had brown hair but I couldn't tell much else as it was dark. "What do you want? How can you be okay with...with that?" I ask as I take another step back. "We were only admiring your handiwork, you're quite skilled." The other one said. He had dark brown almost black hair and his seemed to glow a bright yellow almost feline before turning back. I took another step back. "Relax. We just think you're very skilled and would like to help you get better." What? This is crazy. "I'm fine. Thank you though. I should go. Nice meeting you?" I say ending my sentence with a question before turning around and walking towards the end of the alley. I hear footsteps behind me indicating they were following me. "You know it's not safe in New York. A little help won't hurt." I sigh and stop walking before turning to face them. "Will you please leave me alone? I don't want your help. I'm fine I think I can handle myself." I tell them but before I can leave the one whose eyes had glowed grabbed my hand. I surprisingly didn't struggle. I didn't feel the need to run or anything so I just sighed again. "You do need help. You only survived back there because of sheer luck." He said while maintaining eye contact. His eyes were a dark shade of brown as well. I knew he was right, if it wasn't for dumb luck I would be very much dead. "Why do you want to help me? You're obviously not human. Either of you. So why?" "Why don't we go somewhere less creepy and eerie?" The other one asked. 

I can't believe I'm going with two supernatural creatures I don't know to a place I don't know. We stopped at a cafe and sat down at an outdoor table. "What now? You want to tell me why you would want to train me to kill your kind?" I could somehow tell that the one with lighter hair was a vampire. "Your kind is hard to come across. And for an amateur, you killed him very skillfully." Our definitions of skillful are surely different. "Okay one I'm human and two that was the opposite of skillful. Besides you said it yourself if luck wasn't on my side I would be dead." I tell them as a waiter comes to our table. "What can I get for you guys?" The girl asks while checking out the vampire. She sure is out of luck and mind. "We'll all have cappuccinos. Thanks." He tells her with a smile and I can tell she loses her breath. "Of course." She says and leaves. The vampire turns back to me, so does the other one. I really need to learn their names. "One you're not a human and two for an amateur you were more skillful than most. Do you want to know what you are?" Yes. "No. I'm human and I'm fine with that. I don't want to know or be something other than that. So you want to help me become better at killing your kind because I'm not human or because you're very much interested in 'my kind'?" I ask them both. "Well, a bit of both. Besides we haven't had a friend in quite some time. What do you think?" The non-vampire said. Friend? I do want to learn to fight better and learning from a vampire would be better than learning from humans. "Can I have some time to think about it?" I wanted to ask Jeremy about this and think about it once myself too. "Sure. You can think about it." The vampire says and the waitress comes back with our coffee. I drink the cappuccino all the while feeling their eyes on me. "Can you stop staring?" I ask and they both mutter a quite sorry and start talking amongst themselves. "Well thanks for the coffee but I should get going," I tell them and take my clutch and get up. "Be careful." The non-vampire says. I still don't know their names. Great. I nod and turn towards the road I'm pretty sure leads back to my apartment. 

I reached back home after 20 minutes of being lost and asking for help from people. I took a short shower since I felt like the dead vampire's hand were still on me. I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. I could see light handprints on my neck from when he grabbed me. I sighed a bit and changed into some shorts and a t-shirt. I went and laid on the bed, seeing as it was past midnight I decided to call Jeremy in the morning. I set an alarm for 6 since I wanted to go for the New York tour. I closed my eyes and tried to get the dead vampires body out of my head. I still felt a bit scared knowing there was a slight chance I would have died. I should take their help, they aren't wrong; not only am I not skilled enough but New York is big and I have no idea how many vampires are here. Having supernatural friends won't be a bad thing. I spent the next hour writing down all the pros and cons of accepting their offer and the pros were long while the cons were none yet. I closed my journal and then shut off my bedside lamp as I felt exhaustion take over me and closed my eyes while wrapping the blanket closer around me.


	4. Chapter 3 - New York Your

I woke up at 6 and decided to wear comfortable clothes for the tour. I chose a loose sweater and some jeans. I took a nice long shower and got dressed. I checked my neck to see the handprints were much more visible. I took out the makeup box Care had forced me to buy and tried my best to cover the prints up which proved to be difficult since I rarely do makeup. I had booked a ticket for a tour which would last the whole day. It would go through all the parts of New York even stop for an hour at the Museum of NYC. I was excited about all of it. I would get to visit all the landmarks and even experience it at night. I decided to take a small bag with me. I put stakes and darts in it along with a bottle of water, my phone, journal and some candies I bought yesterday, because well it's chocolate. I also took the Polaroid camera dad had bought for me so that I could capture the best of New York and paint him pictures when I get back. I had decided to walk since I had time. I locked the apartment and put the keys in my bag, before taking out my phone and calling Jer. He picked up after the third ring. 

"Hello?" He asked sounding half asleep. Oops? "Hey, Jer. Sorry, I woke you up." I told him as I walked the streets seeing it was filled with people even though it was early and a Sunday. "No Elle it's fine. Everything okay?" He asked a bit worried and tired. "Yeah, Jer everything's fine. I just wanted to ask you something." I told him and saw a small bakery deciding to go eat something and get some coffee. "Okay. What is it?" He asks with a yawn. "So last night I took Care and Ty's advice and went to the club. As I was coming back home some vampire attacked me..." Before I could finish my sentence, Jer shouted down the phone. "What? Oh my god, Elle are you okay? Do we need to come there? Are you in the hospital?" Before he could freak out more. I told him to calm down and continued, "Relax Jer. I'm fine. I, um killed him. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. So after I killed the vamp two people just walk in and claimed that they want to train me to kill vampires and one of them was a vampire. Wow, that sounds weirder when I say it out loud. So I was thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea since getting training from supernatural creatures would be very useful. What do you think?" I ask him while chewing my bottom lip, nervous for his answer. "I don't know. I mean it would make sense to take training from them but can you trust them?" The question that has been bothering me. "I think so. I mean I don't get a bad feeling from them. You can think about it since I really want your opinion. I'll call you after my tour?" I ask him since I didn't want him to answer me right away too scared he would say no. "Yeah okay. Have fun, Elle. I love you." I smile at that and feel glad to always have him. "I will. Love you too Jer." I cut the call and realize I haven't even ordered yet. I go and order a coffee and a breakfast muffin. I thank the woman at the counter and sit to eat. 

I had finally reached the place where I was supposed to board the bus and waited for it. "Well if it isn't the huntress." I hear someone say from behind me and turn to see the two guys from last night again. Great. "So what you're stalking me now?" I ask them with an irritated look. "We just wanted to make sure you were safe. It is a big bad world." The vampire says with a smirk. "Right. You were such a great help last night, I don't think I would've survived without your help." I tell him with a sarcastic smile before continuing. "Look can you please leave me alone to think. I just want to relax today. From tomorrow my classes are going to start and everything will be hectic. So just leave me be for a day. Okay?" I say with a little anger and they both exchange a look before turning back to me. "How about you come with us? We'll take you to tour New York and there will be no mention of our offer. Just a day off. This way you can get to know us and decide whether or not to trust us." The non-vampire asks with a small smile. "I don't know. You know I don't even know your names, trusting you is far fetched right now." I tell them while also debating whether or not to go. "Right. How rude of us, we haven't formally introduced ourselves. I'm Ares." The non-vampire says while offering a small smile. "I'm Noah." The vampire says also smiling. "Arielle," I tell them and extend my hand to Ares. He takes it and gives a small squeeze. I smile at him and decide that it can't be that bad since if they wanted to kill me they would've already done it. Noah smirks as though he knows I'm going with them. Creepy. "Fine. Let's go." I say and Ares grabs my hand and drags me to their car I think. I'm proved right when we stop in front of a very beautiful sleek black BMW.

I sit in the backseat and put on my seatbelt since Noah was in the driver's seat and I didn't trust him. Plus he's a vampire he's probably used to going way too fast. "So where all do you want to go?" Ares asks me and I look up from fixing my seatbelt, I'm very paranoid with cars ever since the accident. "Well I read about a lot of places but I'm only interested in a few places, Empire State Building, Statue Of Liberty, Museum Of Modern Art and Broadway," I tell them and they give me an amused smile. "What?" I ask a bit scared. "You want to go all but 4 places and you thought a whole day tour would be worth it?" Ares asks and I shrug my shoulders, "Well I thought since it was a whole day trip I won't have to worry about what else to do." I tell them before I remember something, "Oh can we also stop at a shop to get a dress?" I ask since I wanted to send Care a dress as a present and apology for leaving her alone to deal with the boys and Miss Mystic Falls. "No offense, but you don't seem like a dress girl," Noah says with a raised eyebrow. "It's for a friend. And I'm not a dress girl for sure. So can we?" I ask Noah with a smile. He just smirks and starts the car. Weirdo. "Of course we can. Don't worry about anything." Ares tells me before turning around to the front. I relax back into the seat which was very comfortable while looking out the window as we speed through New York.

I was looking out the window at the passing buildings, people and cars when I felt a tap on my knee. I turned to look at Ares, "So what are you doing in New York? You obviously aren't from here." I smile a little and answer, "I'm here for a short art course in Brooklyn. It's going to start tomorrow. Do you do anything or just stalk people?" Ares and Noah laugh before Ares answers, "No we do work. I'm a fashion designer. Noah, on the other hand, is a chef." I feel a bit shocked, I didn't expect supernatural creatures to have a normal life and normal jobs. "Wow, sounds great. And I can see it, not with him though." I tell Ares while slightly shaking my towards Noah to emphasize my point. It was true Ares could easily be dubbed a designer, he dressed like it; with a designer suit and makeup that would make Caroline ashamed of herself. Noah on the other seemed like he would rather sit around all day and order people than actually do anything. "Thank you," Ares says while Noah scowls at me through the mirror. 

"What problem do you have with me exactly?" Noah questions with an angry and annoyed tone. "Well, I don't have any problem. I just don't like you mostly because you're a vampire and I don't trust you yet. Ares on the other hand; while I don't know what he is, somehow makes me feel comfortable and I don't have the urge to hurt him." I tell Noah with a wide smile in order to annoy him, which for some reason I found funny. "I'm a Warlock. And Noah isn't half bad. He can be annoying but he's still a little useful." Ares tells me and we both laugh as Noah throws an angry glare at us. "If you both are done irritating me would you mind telling us how you know about all of this and how you can hunt?" Noah asks me with a serious tone and a hint of curiosity. 

I lean forward a bit and answer him, "This is actually very new to me. So the town I live in has apparently always known about vampires and I found out when I saw a vampire kill my history teacher. From there I just fell into a deeper hole of the world of things that bump into the night. As for hunting, I took up classes for archery and self-defense since I knew I had to protect myself and my family. I've only known about all this only for a month and it still terrifies me." They both look at me with sympathy. "Is that why you were crying last night after killing the vampire?" Noah questions with a smirk and a bit of shock, most probably from the fact that I had only been doing this a month. "You know Ares you can do so much better and to answer your question Noah I cried because not everyone is okay with killing okay?" I tell Noah while smiling sympathetically at Ares to annoy him. They both look at me shocked for some reason. "What? Did I say something wrong?" I ask them and they shake their heads.

They both seem to shake off the shock quickly before asks me, "How did you know we were together?" I look at him a bit weirded out since it wasn't hard to tell. "Sorry to disappoint if this is supposed to be a secret; but your rings are a dead giveaway plus you both look at each other the same way my parents used to. It's actually very cute." I tell them with a smile. They both look at each other the way I hoped someone would someday look at me. Then Ares turns to me and smiles, "You are very observant. Tell us more about yourself." I look at him confused as to what I should tell him since there wasn't much to tell. "Well, to begin I'm 17 and have an annoying older sister, an adorable little brother and an amazing aunt. My parents died almost 5 months ago, I love painting and sketching. I have three best friends and I don't have much else to say." I tell Ares and he looks thoughtful before his eyes glimmer with excitement, "Could you paint us? And what do you like to paint or sketch?" I laugh a little since his tone is childish and I hear Noah do the same. "Sure I could and I usually like painting nature and sometimes people or even just things around me if I'm bored." I explain and they both smile at me again before Noah stops the car and turns around declaring, "We're here." And we all get out of the car. We were near the place where we would board on a ferry to go visit the Statue Of Liberty.

Noah puts an arm around my shoulder as we start walking towards the port? I think. "Uh, don't we have to book tickets earlier on? I read its necessary to pre-book since there's always a rush." I ask them as Ares walks on my other side. They both chuckle before answering. "Don't worry your pretty little head. We can go anywhere, anytime we want..." "Its called compulsion so don't worry we'll make sure you can see the whole of New York before you leave." Noah starts and Ares continues which is a bit creepy in my opinion. I stare before saying, "Right I forgot about the amazing ability of mind control. Sounds fun." They both chuckle again. It seems like I'm their personal entertainment. "It's not like we're hurting anyone. Also, you do know that there are about 400 steps if you want to go up to the crown, right?" Noah asks me and Ares gives me a once over before smirking and continuing walking. Okay weird. "Yeah there are 354 steps and I think I can climb all the way up." I hope I can and I also hope not to embarrass myself. "Well then let's go," Noah says with a smirk and goes off to get us a ferry. He came back after a while and we headed towards the ferry, as we got on I gripped the side of the ferry and Ares's hand to which he just gave my hand a squeeze. I had an irrational fear of deep water, even looking at deep waters scares me a lot for some reason I couldn't explain. Because of this fear I had nearly had a panic attack when my dad had forced me to take up swimming. I remember reading about it, Bathophobia is the extreme fear of depths and even though I know its irrational I can't control it which is common. This phobia also leads to a fear of valleys and caves. I sigh in relief as we step on Liberty Island and realize I'm still holding Ares's hand but he doesn't seem to mind so I don't bother pulling it back.

It's a few minutes' walk to the statue itself from the port. "Sure you can do this? We could just speed all the way up and no one would know." Noah says as he stands in front of me with a very smug grin. I'm definitely climbing on my own even if it is long and will probably leave me tired for tomorrow, but I'm not going to let Noah win. "No thanks. I think I'll be fine. But if you can't do it the human way we would understand completely so go ahead." I tell him and Ares chuckles beside me while Noah scowls and walks ahead. "Is he always so childish?" I ask Ares as we follow the path towards the statue. "No. I haven't seen him like this in some time. It's always just the two of us and he's paranoid; but you, you have this... just this thing about you that makes him a lot less tense and more himself. Its something about you that's just relaxing, knowing you aren't judging us; even though you tease him." He tells me and smiles at me before turning his attention to Noah who is still childishly pouting in anger and walking ahead of us. Ares and I laugh as Noah stops and turns around to look at us with an impatient look with his arms crossed over his chest. We speed up a bit to reach him when we do he takes Ares's other hand walks with us. We reach the statue and head towards the door since they both have obviously been here before they lead the way. We enter through two glass doors to see the original torch at least that's what the website had said it was. "That's the original torch which was removed during the 1900s during reconstruction," Ares whispers as though its some secret and I laugh while taking a picture in the Polaroid. I put it in the bag before taking a picture of Ares and Noah who were laughing at some joke. They looked really cute together. Ares waves me to come towards them and I walk towards them. "The stairs are through there. Come on we'll stop at the museum later. I want to see if you actually make it upstairs." Noah tells me with a giddy smile and pulls me towards the stairs, I look to Ares but he just shrugs. "Why don't you think I can climb up anyways? Many people do it every day." I ask him and turns to look at me. "I want to know how easily you can climb all the way up do we can know how much stamina you have and well if you can't make it up without a lot of breaks then I can tease you when we do become friends." He says ending with a dark smile. I stare a bit creeped out before answering, "Sorry to disappoint you but being your friend means actually liking you and I happen to be a human which means I don't have half a millennia or so to start liking you." I hear Ares laugh before trying to cover it up as Noah glares at him. He turns to me and says, "That was actually a good one. Don't worry we'll be friends real soon. Now let's go." I laugh at his eagerness but let him pull me along as we start climbing up.

We were almost to the pedestal while Noah kept asking if I was okay to which I would just stare at him. That's what he was doing now as he turned to look at me, "So you okay?" I sighed and then finally decided to reply. "Look Noah if you want to take breaks just say so, don't try to push it on me. I'm still young unlike you old man; so I think I'll be just fine climbing." I smirk and push past him hearing him mutter under his breath as Ares says she's got you there. I laugh and we finally reach and I immediately go towards the pedestal balcony; the pedestal is basically where the actual statue starts. I lean over the balcony which is a bad idea since I'm also scared of heights. I take a step back and take out my camera once again because it has a great view of Manhattan and clicks a picture. "You okay?" Noah asks from behind me and this time I can tell he's sincere. "Yeah. I...I just have a fear of heights. You can laugh if you want." But instead of doing that he wraps an arm around my shoulder and walks closer to the edge. I gulp but go with him and look around a bit before giving him a smile as thanks. He smiles back at me and Ares joins us. We roam around the pedestal taking in all the views. "Let's go I want to see what it's like from up top," Noah says practically bouncing with excitement. "Yeah Noah, calm down. We're walking if you haven't noticed" he just gives a look before continuing on his way. We start our way up to the crown; the stairs leading there were narrow. As we reach up a man stands there and points to a window of a sort from where you could see the tablet. I peek at it before backing up and going to look through all the tiny different windows which were a part of the crown. We stay there for a few minutes taking pictures. Ares and Noah were both very enthusiastic and I took lots of pictures of them too. 

We descended the statue which was a lot easier and thankfully a lot faster. We then went to the museum where Noah gave me and Ares an amazing tour. The museum had information about the two nations and the difficulties they faced to build the statue. It also had the statue through its different interpretations. Noah mostly gave his own comments and told me about how he remembered which was amusing since he thought all of the effort was just a waste of time. When we got to the port I checked the time to see it was 9:30 already. "Do you mind if we stop to eat something?" Ares asked me as we sat on the ferry. He gripped my hand and I smiled in appreciation. "Of course not. I'm a bit hungry too." I told him and he gave me a small smile. It took us fifteen minutes to get back and then we were back in the car.

We stopped at a cafe which thankfully didn't have a rush of people. We went and sat down inside. "What will you have?" Noah asks Ares who looks a bit sick. "The usual. Calm down love, I'm fine." Ares tells him with a little smile while squeezing his arm in reassurance. Noah kisses Ares's head before looking at me. "Uh, a coffee. I'll just have a coffee." He gives me a smile before going to order food for us. "Are you okay?" I ask Ares as Noah leaves. "Not you too. Don't worry I'm fine. Like I said before Noah is paranoid, he thinks that because I'm not a vampire I'll die even if I miss a meal." He says with a small laugh probably remembering something. "Well, he does love you. Also, you look a little sick." I inform him and he gives me a tired look. I dig into my bag and take out a Kit Kat. "Here," I say and hand him the Kit Kat. He smiles and takes it. Noah comes back with a tray within a few minutes. "Here we go. Eat. Both of you, please." He places pancakes in front of both of us along with coffee. "Thanks," I tell him with a smile. "So I was thinking. We could go to the Museum of Modern Art after this then we go for lunch. After lunch, we could go to SoHo to shop for the dress you want and then for a Broadway show. After the show we could for dinner at Little Italy and then finally end with the Empire State Building as the view will be better at night. We'll drop you home by midnight. Sound okay?" Noah asks me as I finish my coffee. "Sure sounds great," I tell him and sit back a bit since Ares is still eating. "What Broadway show do you want to go for?" Noah questions and I feel a little worried but not ashamed to tell them my choice. What if they think I'm weird? Oh well. I gulp before answering. "I want to see Aladdin," I tell them and they both stare at me. "Well it is different, we have already seen the other shows. It sounds fun." Ares says as he gives me a smile as though saying he doesn't think I'm weird. I give him a smile back. He finishes eating and we all leave for the museum.

We reached the museum in half an hour and as we go to get tickets it turns out the museum will open in an hour. I was going to suggest we wait somewhere before remembering Noah is a vampire and see what he's already compelling them to let us in. We spent two hours in the museum and got to take a lot of pictures thanks to Noah's compulsion. I'm not going to lie I didn't understand most of the art there, I also didn't understand why people would stand contemplating over a painting which is basically a throw up of colors. Yeah while I love to paint I'm not one of those people who can understand 'abstract art'. Turns out neither were Noah and Ares. We made fun of paintings we didn't understand and a lot of people would turn to glare at us while some would agree and laugh along. If it weren't for the compulsion I'm pretty sure we would have been kicked out. We were at the moment in the gift shop at the museum. There was also a restaurant on the fifth floor where Ares suggested we eat to save time. So for the next half hour, we were going to waste our time in the gift shop. I was looking at the different books that were in the shop. They were about different art forms, styles, even about music, theatre, and photography. I was looking at the two books I had selected. One was for Jer; it was about the different ways of sketching and painting at an intermediate level. Some of the techniques I knew and had tried while others I had only read about. I also bought one for myself but it was at a professional level. I knew I would need it for my course as it had all the information from the basics like color combinations to the way you can create a 3D picture. After paying for the two books I went to look for Ares and Noah. I found them ordering an employee to pack the paintings they liked and to deliver them. "You guys done?" I ask them as they stare at a particular painting before turning towards me. "Yes, we are. What did you get?" Noah asks me pointing towards my bag. "Oh I got two books about painting and sketching," I tell him and he nods before we leave. 

We sit at the restaurant called The Modern in the private dining area. Noah ordered for all of us. Thank god, because I've never been someplace like this before. It's like one of those places you see on TV where everything is just odd, a place where you can't eat a burger and fries and be done with. In Mystic Falls there was only The Grill and a cafe that did not serve 'fancy' food. When the food did come I was confused as to what I was going to eat and was still confused when I did finish eating. It didn't taste bad, it was just something I wouldn't eat. The dessert though was great, it was chocolate so I loved it. After lunch, we sat there for some time as Noah went to talk to the chef who was his friend. "Do they have a Beauty and The Beast show at Broadway?" I asked Ares who was drinking wine? I think it was wine. "I think so. Why? I thought you wanted to see Aladdin." He asks me while leaning forward a bit. "Yeah, but I like Beauty and The Beast more," I tell him just as Noah comes back. "Well, we'll see which one is there and if there is Beauty and The Beast we'll see that," Ares tells me with a smile and we get up to leave. We get in the car and drive towards Broadway, according to Noah it was an hour away. So I practically melted in my seat and tried to get some rest as I could feel my legs hurting from all the climbing and walking. I could feel exhaustion taking over and close my eyes to get some sleep.


	5. Chapter 4 - New York Tour Part 2

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Ares next to me and remember that we were heading to SoHo for dress shopping. Fun. "We're here. Come On sleepy head." He tells me while pulling me out. Of course, he's excited to shop. "Relax, would you?" I hear a chuckle as I say that and we're out of the car. "It's impossible for him to relax when it's about shopping," Noah tells me with a wide grin and I just know he's very amused and is going to enjoy my misery. Why did I suggest this again? I glare at Noah who just laughs and takes Ares's hand that is not dragging me. I sigh and prepare myself for a torture filled afternoon. Ares is not going to be impressed with my lack of interest. We soon reach a shop I don't get to read the name of and before I can object I'm dragged to a sitting area. Oh great, we're in a very expensive shop since there are couches to sit with personal helpers? I don't know what they're called. I probably should've mentioned a budget. "Ares I don't think this the right place," I tell him as he finally let's go off my hand and is about to approach one of the people, he turns around abruptly and looks at me like I just said the oddest thing in the world. "What? This is the perfect place to get a dress. You don't like it?" Ares asks me with a sad look. What do I say? "Ares this place seems amazing but I don't think you understand that I probably couldn't even afford a scarf here. I'm sorry but I was thinking more of a simple dress shop and not a boutique." I tell him with a somewhat sorry smile, at least I hope it is. He smiles as he hears my concern. Okay weird, also worries me. I hear Noah laugh from beside me. When did he come next to me?

Before I can say or ask anything Ares skips towards the people who just seem to have gone to heaven. Probably cause he's famous, he is a fashion designer. "Uh, he heard me right?" I ask Noah who smiles at me before nodding. "He did hear you. He just doesn't, well to put it nicely he doesn't care if you can afford anything here or not. You said dress shopping and everything else was a blur to him, he probably didn't even hear the part where it's supposed to be for your friend too busy imagining what colors would suit you." Great. I can't believe he didn't tell me before. Actually, I can Noah is a jerk. "I hate you so much right now," I tell Noah who just smiles creepily in return. "Okay sweetheart, I told them what to get for you, just sit and relax. As for the price, you don't have to pay. Consider it a gift from me." Ares says as he stands in front of us with a broad smile. Oh god he looks so happy I don't want to tell him, but I will because I'm not trying on dresses. "Ares, the dress isn't for me. I wanted to buy it as a gift for my friend and I can't take such an expensive gift from you. I'm sorry." I tell him and his face falls as soon as I finish. "Oh." That's all he says before turning around once again. I'm not going to follow him and let him have his way. "Don't worry, just wait he's not going to give up so easily," Noah tells me with his creepy smile while putting his arm around me. I sigh knowing he's right since Ares isn't actually calling off all the people, he's just pouting by the counter thinking about something. "This is going to be worse than any shopping trip with Caroline. Isn't it?" I ask Noah even though he doesn't know Care. "I don't know who that is but yes, it's going to be the shopping spree you'll never forget. Come on we should go sit. He'll join us soon." Noah says and pulls us towards the couches.

Five minutes later Ares cane and sat down next to us with a huge smile. Why is he smiling? "So what does your friend look like? We can find a dress for her and then for you." As soon as Ares finishes his sentence I look towards Noah silently asking if there's a way out. He shook his head. "I have a picture of her. Wait I'll show you." I take my phone and show him a picture of Care. "Alright. Green would look wonderful on her. How tall is she?" Ares asked and I thought about it before answering, "She's maybe two or three inches taller than me." I hope I'm right. "Okay let's get to work." Ares stands up just as people come back with dresses, lots of them. "Do I have to try all of those?" I asked Noah who looked absolutely amused. "No, he'll probably only like two or three, even though he designed all of them," Noah says. Guess he owns the boutique then. "Thank god." I sigh out and Noah gives me look saying this wasn't going to be that easy. As Noah had said Ares only came back with three dresses. He handed me the first dress it was black floor-length, it had full sleeves made of white illusion lace with black flowers? on them. I took it and went towards the changing room. I put it on and then went back out, knowing Ares will be the one to actually choose what I get. I stand in front of Ares who examines the dress going in a circle around me. "Alright next one." He says and hands me another one which is red. I put it on, the dress has sleeves up to my elbow and reaches a little above my knees. I liked the first one better. I go out and Ares again examines the dress before wordlessly handing me the last dress. I put it on and look in the mirror. The dress is black with red flowers and green vines and leaves all over and has spaghetti sleeves, it also drags along the floor. I sigh and step out, this is the last one I keep telling myself. Ares again circles me and I see Noah standing there looking too. I give him a small glare that he doesn't notice.

After changing back to my comfortable clothes Ares sat me on the couch and started to show me the dresses he thinks would look great on Care. He was letting me choose since it was my gift. They were all various shades of green. I looked through all of them, one caught my eye. It was a dark green, it had halter neck and had lace top with sequins, it flared from the hips, it was also backless and floor-length. "I like this one. What do you think?" I show Ares the dress I liked and he gives me a wide smile showing his approval. We were finally done and Ares had ordered the dresses to be delivered at my address. We had spent 2 hours in the boutique and it was almost 4, so we left for Broadway. "How long will it take us to reach?" I ask Noah as we sit in the car. "An hour to Broadway. Then from Broadway an hour to Little Italy, which is only about 15-20 minutes away from Empire State Building." Noah tells me and I give him a smile. He isn't that bad. He smirks at me through the mirror. "Well I told you about myself, it's your turn," I tell Ares as he turns to look at me. "What do you want to know?" He asks me with a slight smile. "Well, how did you guys meet? How old are you? What about your family?" I ask him all the questions I could think of. 

Ares and Noah laugh and I sink back in my seat in embarrassment. "To begin with I am well over 300 years and Noah is well over 600 years. I don't have any family, neither does Noah; at least not anymore. As for our meeting, it was over 250 years ago. We met in New Orleans. I was shunned by my coven for my fathers' actions. He betrayed the coven for money, gave away their secrets. I didn't have a mother or siblings and I couldn't stay after being shunned, so I decided to leave. I had enough money to buy myself a ticket to America, so I did." Ares tells me with the slightest of sadness in his voice. I take his hand in between mine in some sort of reassurance. Noah looks at Ares before saying. "We met on the ship. I was escaping from my family, I didn't like New Orleans whatsoever. It was quite a cliché, we both ran into each other and I got a hold of him before he could fall." They both chuckle at that and I smile. "I apologized to him over and over. People were staring, mostly out of curiosity as to what Noah would do. See, I didn't have any money so I was obviously in rags and Noah was dressed as though he were a King or Prince. At that time it was fine to do as you wish on the lower class. I was too scared to even look up to see who I bumped into." Ares tells me with a sad smile remembering what it was like. "When Ares bumped into me I was rather ready to snap, but when I looked at him I was too... occupied in staring to do anything. Living for so long I had already known I was attracted to men more so than women. And seeing Ares even in rags he looked too beautiful to let go. When I came back to my senses I only chuckled at him before saying it was okay. We both went our separate ways after that. I couldn't stop thinking about him though so I decided to befriend him." Noah says with a genuinely happy smile. "When he offered to be friends, I was a bit hesitant; but then he told me he knew I was a Warlock and told me could help me. I agreed to travel with him as I had nothing to lose. Over time I fell for him quite hard actually. It took me a decade to accept my feelings and when I did I told Noah how I felt. I was ready to be slapped or worse thrown off the building." Ares recalls with a fond smile. "I was surprised when he did confess so much so that I just stood there for a few minutes in shock; processing his words. He had his eyes closed too scared of what would happen. When I regained the control on my body, I whispered Took you long enough before kissing him." Noah says while looking at Ares with a wide smile and eyes full of love. "When he kissed me I was shocked, to say the least. But it was also the happiest day of my life." Ares whispered while holding Noah's hand and smiling. I sit back with a smile but decide against saying anything in the fear of ruining their mood.

The ride after that is silent with Noah and Ares holding hands and occasionally smiling at one another. I decide to text Jer to pass time and to get to know what he thinks. 

Elle✩  
Hey Jer.

Jer♡  
Hey Elle, how's the tour?

Elle✩  
I didn't go on the tour. I'm actually traveling with the two people I told you about. I know it sounds crazy but I'm starting to trust them. Their names are Noah and Ares. Noah is the vampire and Ares is a Warlock. So what are you doing?

Jer♡  
It does sound crazy. But if you trust them... I am studying. I won't let you down. And if you do trust them you should definitely take up their offer. It seems safer, at least you won't be alone.

Elle✩  
I guess you are right. I'll talk to them afterward. And you could never let me down, I'm proud of you Jer. Don't worry too much.

Jer♡  
Thanks, Elle. I'll text you later? Elena found out I remember everything and that you told me everything you knew, so she's eating my ears away with her stupid lectures about how it's not safe. She tried to get Damon to erase my memories but he refused and so did Stefan. I guess I have you to thank for that :)

Elle✩  
Oh, all the best with Elena and text me when you can. Love you♡.

Jer♡  
I will text as soon as I can. Love you too♡.

I put my phone in my bag and take out a Hershey's bar. I see Ares was looking at me with a raised eyebrow so I do the same. "Do you have another one?" Ares asks me and Noah looks through the mirror to make sense of what Ares is saying. I don't answer instead take out another one and hand it to him. Ares gives me a smile and turns around to eat his bar while I eat mine. We soon reach Broadway and Ares goes off to look at what shows are there. "Thanks," Noah whispers as he turns to face the backseat. "What for? Shouldn't it be me who says thank you?" I ask him also whispering. "No, you don't need to thank us. This day was the most fun we've had in some time. Besides I was thanking you for letting Ares have his way, he doesn't have a friend; never has had one. So thank you." I don't say anything just smile at him. Ares comes back with three tickets in his hand. "I got us tickets for Beauty and The Beast. We still have half an hour though. Any plans?" He asks us. "We could find a small cafe or something like that," Noah suggests. Ares just shrugs and the car starts. We reach a small cafe within a minute and Noah goes to park the car as I and Ares go in and sit. "What do you want?" Ares asks as we sit down while looking through the menu. "I'm not really hungry. Thanks." I tell him with a slight smile. I lean back into my seat still feeling a bit tired. "Alright then. I'll just go order." Ares says and leaves. I close my eyes for a few seconds before reopening them to see Noah sat in front of me with a smile which quickly fades into a smirk as I jump in fright. "Seriously? Give the human a little warning next time." I tell him as I get comfortable in my seat again after the fright and try to get my breathing under control. I hear him laugh at my comment and smile a bit. I close my eyes again knowing I'm safe since Noah's here. And that thought scares me a bit, I haven't even known them a day and I still feel safe with them. I hear a tray being set down on the table and open my eyes to see Ares is back. "Here drink. You're going to need it." He tells me and hands me a mocha. Yes, I can recognize coffee by their smells and yes I know it's weird deal with it. I look to Noah and he just shakes his head to my unsaid question. I take the cup from Ares and hold it with both my hands, the warmth of the cup a nice contrast to the cold weather. Ares and Noah talk among themselves and I lean back looking around. 

I didn't really talk to them and they didn't seem to mind. I was done with my coffee and so were Ares and Noah. We were all just relaxing in our seats. "We should go. The show will start in five minutes." Noah says and I look up to see him already standing while Ares is still sitting. "Okay. Let's go." I agree and stand up and Ares does the same. We reach the theatre and find our seats and sit down. That was amazing. The whole play? yeah since it was acted out by people it can be categorized as a play; right the play was awesome. The actors were all fitting, they suited their roles. I loved Beauty and The Beast even more now. "Well, that was truly an amazing sweetheart. You have a great choice." Ares tells me as we walk out of the theatre. "Thanks, Ares. It really was amazing." I tell him and give him a hug and he wraps his arms around me tightly. I smile and pull back so that I can hug Noah. Noah freezes a bit when I hug him but then relaxes and hugs me back tightly. "Thank you, guys. I don't think I would've had so much fun on the tour. It was magical." I tell them and they laugh at my choice of words. "Alright. Let's go get dinner, I'm hungry." Ares says and drags both me and Noah towards the valet parking. Noah tells us to wait there and goes to get the car. I and Ares got in the car. Ares turns to me as we take off towards Little Italy and asks, "What else do you like to do, other than painting?" I look at him before answering, "Well I like reading, mostly fiction and I actually like archery. Ooh, I also love sleeping." Ares and Noah laugh before Ares again questions, "How did your parents die? It's okay if you don't want to answer." I smile a little at him letting him know it's okay. "Well, my sister had decided to skip the family night and go to a party. Me and my brother I had stayed back since well I hate parties and my brother wasn't that into parties. Halfway through the night, Elena calls crying about a fight with her ex, my best friend Matt. My parents decided to go pick her up, I was supposed to go with them but stayed behind since dad was worried Aunt Jenna would burn the house down. About an hour later we get a call from the Sheriff saying that there was an accident and our parents hadn't made it but Elena had. Everything after that was a blur up until reaching the hospital where Sheriff Forbes explained that the car had skidded and had gone off Wickery Bridge." I explain and I can feel tears falling. I wipe them away. "Sorry," I say hating that feeling of hopelessness and weakness. I close my eyes trying to control my tears when a pair of arms wrap around me and I hug back feeling safe. I cry remembering how exactly I felt that night. I grip onto Ares tightly trying and failing to control my tears all the while Ares is whispering over and over again that it's okay. I manage to control my tears a bit and pull away just slightly. "That's not the worst you know. When it clicked that all of this could've been avoided if Elena had just stayed home I wished that she would've died instead. I hated her, she took away our parents. I... I punched her you know at the funeral I was so angry, she killed them and had the audacity to go up to say a few words for them. I controlled my anger but she kept talking and when she walked down and kept her flower at their graves first I snapped. She didn't have the right to say the parting words or cry or keep her flower first, so I went up to her and punched her. I remember I screamed about how she was the reason they were dead before Matt and Ty dragged me away. I hate her still sometimes when I realize that my dad won't be there when I go back home; he wouldn't ask me about my course or if I felt lonely there and all the anger and hate comes back. And I hate myself when it happens." I tell Ares, before taking a deep breath and whispering a sorry. I turn to look around to look through the window instead of having to see their probably disgusted faces. Instead, I find myself wrapped in Ares's arms again. "It's okay Elle. It's okay that you hate her, that it angers you. You shouldn't avoid or oppress your feelings like that. It's okay Elle." I feel my heart speed up when he calls me Elle. Only Jer's ever called me Elle and I hug him back feeling safe just like when I'm with Jer. For the rest of the ride we sit in silence, Ares does let me go but not fully; he still has one of his arms around me with my head on his chest. 

We reach Little Italy which was a neighborhood and not a restaurant like I thought. In Little Italy we go to a place called 'Il Cortile' and I excuse myself to the bathroom. I wash my face and just look in the mirror for a minute or two before taking a deep breath and going outside and back to the table where Ares and Noah are sitting. "Hey. We already ordered, hope you don't mind." Noah says as I sit down. "No it's fine," I tell him, my voice barely above a whisper. I clear my throat before deciding to end this odd silence. "I'm fine. You guys don't have to worry. I'm sorry about that, I've never really talked to anyone about my parents' death." I tell them with a small smile. They both smiled back and just as Ares is about to say something a waiter comes and serves them both wine. I think. As he leaves Ares looks at me before saying, "So did you at least break her nose with the punch?" I laugh a little before answering, "Unfortunately no. Although she did make it seem like it, even went to a doctor. It was funny mostly because the doctor was looking at Elena like crazy and so was Sheriff Forbes who Elena had dragged with us because I was 'unstable'. After everything, I was asked to go see a therapist to get my anger under control. Not that he was helpful whatsoever, I'm pretty sure he didn't even have a degree. Every day he would ask me to write why I punched Elena and then he would read for 45 minutes even though it was barely 20 lines and at the end of the session he would tell me, 'Its okay Miss Gilbert. Grief has funny ways of showing itself.' And I would've to stop myself from screaming at him." I say with a laugh remembering telling Jer about this and then Jer suggesting I should just punch him and say grief has a funny way of showing itself to him. "Sounds fun," Noah tells me with his trademark smirk. I just laugh and take a sip of my water. Our food soon comes and it ranges between pizza, pasta of all kinds and shapes and other things I don't recognize. I was going to question their sanity but decided to go with it. After a fulfilling dinner, we left for our last destination: Empire State Building. We reached there in 20 minutes. I checked the time to see it was 10:30. While Noah had gone to 'arrange' our visit so that there won't be any interruptions I and Ares were leaning against the car. "I... I would love to be your friend Ares. I'll take your offer." I tell Ares as I turn to face him. His face breaks out into a smile and he hugs me tightly, I do the same while laughing lightly. Noah comes back and Ares tells him that I accepted their offer with so much excitement that I feel bad for even considering rejecting it. Noah smiles at me in thanks and I give him a smile back. We start towards the elevator that will take us to the 86th floor where the observation deck was. We enter the elevator and head up.

We reach the observation deck which is empty thanks to Noah's compulsion. Not that I understood the point of it. We went around looking through all the binoculars before going up to the 102nd floor. We clicked a lot of photos from there before going back to the 86th floor from where the skyline was more clearer. I clicked the picture of New York skyline from all sides before clicking pictures of Ares and Noah who were laughing and talking and occasionally dancing. I know it sounds weird but it was cute. After clicking lots of pictures, we stayed there for about 20 more minutes just enjoying the view and the cold weather. When we reach back down I check the time to see its 11:30. "Hey, Noah? How long will it take to get back to Brooklyn?" I ask Noah a bit worried since I have to wake up early tomorrow. "Don't worry it'll only take half an hour at the most," Noah assures me and we get in the car. This time Ares takes the wheel and Noah sits in the passenger seat. "I have a question," I announce. They both look at me before Noah gestures to continue. "Don't you need blood? I mean you haven't fed the whole day. Also is blood a daily necessity or like when you feel really hungry?" I ask Noah genuinely curious about how vampires function. "I do need blood, but I can control myself. And as for consumption needs, it depends on the vampire, everyone has different needs." Noah replies. Okay then. "Uh, where will you train me?" I ask Noah again. "In our house, we'll show you where it is. Where do you live?" Noah answers and asks. I try recalling the exact address. "Uh Caton Ave, Westminster Road. Yeah, that's it. I think." I tell Noah who chuckles a bit before saying, "That's good, we live only a block away. We'll show you before dropping you off." I smile and relax back before taking out the Polaroid's I kept in my bag and start looking through them. "Do you mind?" I look up to see Noah gesturing towards the pictures and I shrug while handing him the pictures I already looked through. I hope they don't mind me taking their pictures without asking. He looks at the pictures before showing Ares while smiling and I sigh out in relief. "Can we keep a few of them?" Ares asks me and I smile, "Yeah sure I just want a few to keep as a reminder. You can keep the ones you like." I tell him and he smiles at me so does Noah. 

Noah and Ares kept about 10-12 pictures while letting me keep the others. We soon stop in front of a huge building. We all step out and towards the lobby. "You guys live here?" I ask them while looking around the lobby which has a royal feel. "Yes, we do. What were you expecting?" Noah asks me leading me towards the reception. "I was expecting a three-story mansion," I tell him and he laughs before talking to the man at the desk in a language I don't understand. "Alright, this is Aaron he's our ...friend. He has been informed to not stop you when you come. We live in the penthouse. You can just come up without worry." Noah tells me. I nod and we leave so that they can drop me home. We reach within a minute as I tell them which complex is mine. "I live on the 4th floor," I tell Ares as we stand near the door. "Alright. When will your classes be over tomorrow?" Ares asks me as Noah looks around. "Around 1. Why?" I ask and Noah looks at me and smiles. "You should come over as soon as you're done. We can start tomorrow itself." Noah tells me and I nod agreeing. I hug both of them and wish them goodnight before thanking them again. I enter my apartment tired and somehow manage to change into some shorts before lying down on the bed, setting an alarm for 6 before turning the lights off and sleep takes over as soon as I close my eyes.


	6. Chapter 5 - The First Day

I woke up at six to my stupid alarm and reluctantly got out of bed. I pick out my first-day outfit which Care had selected. It included an orange sweater, black jeans, an ochre scarf, and brown boots. I took a short shower and got dressed before making some coffee and some pancakes. I finish eating quickly and start packing a small bag with my books and pencils and colors. I check the time to see its 7 o'clock so I quickly check all my things and leave the apartment. I lock my apartment and then start towards the academy, I had memorized the way there since it was very simple and started to walk. I could feel my nerves building the closer I got. I reach there and am actually shocked at how huge it is. The academy is not only for artists; it's like a skill learning school. There are a variety of courses offered from basic classes in languages to graduate-level courses. I walk in and look around to see a woman who seems to be waiting for someone and so I take my chance and go towards her. "Excuse me?" I say as I tap the woman on her arm. She turns and looks at me up and down. "Yes?" She asks and I mentally prepare for what to say. "Hi, I'm Arielle Gilbert. I'm looking for the Fine Arts department." I tell her and she smiles, "Ms.Gilbert, I'm Ruby Williams the head of the Fine Arts department." She tells me with a smile and I feel a bit relieved. "I see you're quite punctual, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other students. There are still five more minutes left so if you have any questions I would be happy to answer." She tells me and all I can think about is that I will be joined by 19 more students seeing as at one time they take in 20 students.

I turn my attention back to Mrs.Williams so that I don't have to deal with my social anxiety. "I remember reading that there will be theory classes as well, I wanted to know what they would be about." I tell her and she smiles before answering, "Well that will be included in the tour today. Your classes will start at 7 from tomorrow onwards while today will only be a seminar of about an hour where you will be introduced to your teachers and given basic kits." She informs and I nod my head and smile. After waiting for about ten minutes everyone is here and I can see that there are only five girls including me. We start the tour and Mrs.Williams shows us the classes which are thankfully not that far from each other. She tells us that we will have only five classes, three of which will be theory while two will be practical. The classes will all be an hour long and the theory classes include Aesthetics, History, And Appreciation Of Arts; and Methods And Material. While practical would vary every week and there would be an assignment on the same every week. After the tour, we were told the order in which our classes would be. First would be Aesthetics, then History And Appreciation Of Arts, after which would be a practical class and a little break of 10 minutes. After the break Methods And Material and finally another practical class. So every day I would be free by 12:30. After the tour, we are led to a classroom where we all sit down. The teachers are already there and after a few minutes our names are called and the kits are distributed which include a sketchbook, a drawing book for basic outlines of our paintings, a color palette, paint brushes, pencils; colored and black, chalks, books about the theory classes and a logbook; which is for our attendance and grades. We are introduced to all our teachers who give little information about their subject. After the teachers are done we are told to each sketch something on a sheet of paper that is provided, so that they can determine who needs to be worked on more. 

We are given half an hour and no theme is given. I stare at the paper for a good five minutes before deciding to sketch my apartment complex and a few buildings surrounding it and the street with the outline of a few people. I start the sketch starting with the street and the outline of buildings and people before adding detail to the whole sketch. As I'm about to start the sky and adding street lamps and such it is declared that the time is over. We all hand over our sketches and then we're told that we can leave. I check the time and see its almost 10. I walk back to my apartment complex and see someone standing outside my apartment. "Hi, can I help you?" I ask the man as I reach him. "Yes. I'm here to deliver the dresses." He tells me and I recognize him from the boutique. "Oh. Thank you." I tell him and take the dresses before unlocking the door to go in. I turn around to ask if he wants water or anything else, to see he's already gone. Okay then. I enter and immediately put my dress in the closet and go change into some leggings and shoes instead of jeans and boots. Then I open my laptop to find nearby courier services. After finding one only ten minutes away I take both the dress and the book to send to Mystic Falls. Since I don't know when Miss Mystic Falls is I don't want to take a chance. I head out with the dress, book and my bag. I reach there in 15 minutes since I once lost my way. I give them the dress and the book and pay them the fees. I take out my phone and call Caroline. She answers just as I was about to cut the call because I remembered that she would be in school. 

"Hey, Care." I greet as soon as she answers. "Hey, Ari. Did you have fun at your tour?" She asks me sounding a bit off. "Yeah Care. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sending you to dress for Miss Mystic Falls. I know you're going to win." I tell her and I can already tell she's smiling. "Thanks Ari. I just wish you would be here too. Anyways you didn't answer my question." Care says and I laugh a bit as she sounds like a scolding mother. "I loved it. I made two new friends and I also went to a club as you asked. And yes I had fun there before you ask. What about you?" I ask her since it's more complicated in Mystic Falls. "Well last night I was at Matt's house and we were making out when his mom walked in. It was awkward and I'm also planning the Founder's fundraiser tonight. And..." Care rants before pausing and hesitating. "What is it Care? You can tell me." I tell her and she takes a deep breath before rushing out gibberish. "Care I didn't understand any of that. Can you try a bit slower?" I ask her and she again takes a deep breath and whispers, "Elena and Stefan were together today. They weren't even trying to hide. Ty almost punched him and Elena. Matt's angry too. I'm worried they're going to do something." She whispers with a sad tone. I take a breath and tell myself that he's not worth it. "Its fine Care. I sort of expected this. Don't worry. Just tell Ty and Matt not to worry and waste their time on Elena or Stefan. Who knows maybe Elena will think Matt wants her back or something." I tell her. She gives a small chuckle before we both fall silent. "I'm sorry Ari. I hope you find someone better and I'm glad you found friends." She says and I know she's smiling again. "Its fine Care. I don't need anyone as long as I have my best friends." I tell her and then I hear someone shouting in the background before Care says, "Sorry Ari, I have to go. I'll call you later?" I smile knowing she's trying hard since she wants to win and Elena will win sympathetic votes. "Its fine Care. Have fun. Call me whenever you can. Bye." "Bye Ari. Have fun." She says before cutting the call. I head towards Noah and Ares's house since I have nothing better to do. 

I reach there in 20 minutes and head towards the elevator. I press the button for the penthouse. As the elevator door opens I step out and am left staring at the amazing design. The penthouse is open and spacious, as I entered there was a small passage with stairs and a kitchen on the left near the passage end. A little ahead there was a coffee table and couch the wall behind it was fully made of glass with a glass door that led to a balcony. On the wall opposite of the couch was a unit for TV and books. Noah was sitting on the couch reading a book while running his fingers through Ares's hair who seemed asleep. Noah looked up and smiled as I walked closer to where he was sitting. "Hey, you're early." He says and gestures me to sit on a sofa chair. I sit down and reply, "Yeah. Turns out today was only tour, evaluation and introduction; the actual classes will start from tomorrow." Ares stirs a bit and Noah and I both look at him, he settles back down and Noah sighs. "Sorry, he's been overworking himself. Do you mind if we don't start now? Ares is hyperaware when he sleeps and I don't want him to wake up." Noah asks me and I can see he's very worried. "Of course not. I can come back later." I tell him and stand up since I didn't want to disturb them. "You don't need to leave. I actually have a favor to ask. If you don't mind." Noah says and I sit back down and tell him, "Sure. What do you need?" I ask him and he smiles before replying, "Can you cook?" Weird question considering he himself is a chef. "Uh. Yeah, I can. Why?" I ask him and he sits a bit straighter. "Well I was planning on making Ares some lunch since it's 12 already but like I said he'll wake up if I move," Noah says and I can tell he feels a bit odd asking me to cook for them; after all, we meet only 2 days ago. "Nevermind it's fine," Noah says while I'm busy thinking about how odd the feeling of comfort is given a short period of time. "No, it's fine. What should I make?" I ask him while standing up and abandoning my bag on the coffee table. "Thank you. Can you make Mac and Cheese?" He asks me with a look that says he doesn't really trust me to make anything complicated. "Sure. The kitchens there right?" I ask Noah while pointing towards the way I came in from. "Yeah. If you can't find anything you can come ask." I give him a smile and head towards the kitchen.

I look through the shelf and the refrigerator to see what I can make. I decide to make a simple salad and some fried rice since I have some time. I start by putting the rice to cook in some water and then start with the salad. Once I'm done with the salad I check on the rice and see that it's done so I start by stir-frying the vegetables and adding the spices; when I can smell the nice aroma of spices I add the rice and let it cook while setting the table. After transferring the rice in a bowl I go to the living area to call them to eat. I go out to see Ares awake and him and Noah cuddling. "Sorry to disturb you..." I start but before I can finish Ares had already jumped up and had his arms around me. "Elle I didn't know you were here," Ares says while pulling back and smiling. "I got here about an hour ago." I tell Ares and he turns to give Noah a questioning look, "Right. She was just making some Mac and Cheese since neither of us wanted to disturb you. Which took her a long time. You didn't burn the kitchen, did you?" Noah questions. Before I can answer Ares turns back to me and gives me a questioning look before saying, "You can cook? Why didn't you tell me?" I smile a bit and answer, "Yes I can cook, I can also bake. In fact, I love baking. I thought I mentioned that. And Noah I didn't burn down the kitchen, why don't you taste and tell me if it was worth the time?" I gesture them towards the kitchen. We walk while Ares walks beside me and asks me, "What do you like to bake?" I think before answering, "I love baking cakes and cookies and occasionally whatever new is there to try." I smile as we all sit down. "Okay, this smells amazing. Let's see what you got." Noah says with a smirk. "So Elle what's the most fun thing you tried to bake?" Ares asks as we serve ourselves. "Well its wasn't anything crazy, but once about 3 years ago it was our parents' anniversary so instead of buying them a card or something I and Jer decided to make a homemade pizza, base, and everything. I don't know why we even decided on pizza, it wasn't our parents' favorite. I think it was mostly because Jer wanted to eat pizza. So we went out to get a recipe book which took us an hour and then another three hours to make the pizza dough itself. After it was finally made and rested we divided it into two halves, I took one and he took one. So we start to flatten it with rolling pins and for the first five times it just kept tearing apart and finally at the sixth time it worked, we both topped it with whatever we wanted and then we finally put the pizza in the oven, we turn to look at the kitchen and the whole place is covered in flour and toppings. We start to clean the kitchen which just makes it even more messier. As we are mopping the floor with way too much water, the oven beeps and the front door opens. We both freeze and mom and dad walk in the kitchen. We both hide the mops behind our backs and smile innocently, mom and dad share a look and then they start laughing. We all cleaned up the kitchen together and then ate the pizza which thankfully was not a total disaster. Although it wasn't some crazy recipe, it was very much fun and it's my favorite memory with my parents." I tell Ares, almost whispering by the end. I look up to see them both smiling and smile back before focusing on eating.

After we finished eating, Ares and Noah were cleaning since they insisted. "You aren't an awful cook. Thanks again." Noah says as I was looking through the books they had. "Thanks for the somewhat compliment. And it wasn't a problem. Is Ares okay though?" I ask Noah a little worried. "He's fine just that sometimes he overworks himself. Wanna practice archery?" Noah asks with a raised eyebrow. "Sure. Let's go." Noah gestures for me to follow and we walk up the stairs. To the right, there are two doors which probably lead to bedrooms. We turn left and enter the door on the right end. The room is made like a training room, with a mat in the middle and machines lining all over the corners, Noah presses a button and a targeting range comes out of the floor, which is pretty cool. I walk around to get a better look before standing beside Noah whose holding a compound bow and a few arrows. I take them before looking towards Noah. "I have to work on all of these? I only learned how to use a compact crossbow, is using a compound bow the same?" I ask Noah worried about how I will do this. "Yes you have to work on all of these and no they are very different," Noah tells me and I wait for him to tell me what to do. He takes my shoulders and turns me to look at him before saying, "Keep your feet in line and your knees a little bent. Keep your head a little upright." Noah instructs me as I look down to see a line and plant my feet accordingly. "Hold the bow anyway you feel." I take the bow and hold it a little far from my head and body. Noah smiles before adjusting it just a bit. "Don't loose your grip on the bow." He takes an arrow and hands it to me, "Don't hold the arrow too tight, it will make it difficult to release it." Noah instructs me and then I draw the arrow before taking a deep breath and releasing it. I close my eyes not really wanting to see how bad I did. "Well done Elle." I hear Ares say and open my eyes to see the arrow has landed in the red area which is supposed to be a 7 out of 10. I smile and hug Noah. 

After 3 hours of training of which 1 hour was training on the machines, I'm laying on the couch too tired to care about anything. "You did great," Noah tells me from the sofa chair as Ares is running his fingers through my hair while my head is in his lap. "Thanks, it doesn't feel like it though." I tell Noah and Ares smiles down at me while saying, "Don't worry Elle, it was just the first day. I'm sure by the time you have to go you'll be amazing." I smile at him and he kisses my head. I close my eyes as I can practically feel every single body part ache. I sigh before sitting up. "I should go," I tell them and take my bag to leave. "Absolutely not," Ares says as he takes hold of my hand. "And why not? I do have a home you know." I tell him and shoulder my bag. "I know but you're in no condition to walk home right now or even make dinner when it's time," Ares tells me with a smile knowing he's won. I lie back down not bothering with argument. "Can we watch a movie or something?" I ask Ares and he gives me a look before nodding. What was that look? Whatever. "What do you want to watch?" Noah asks me as he stands to turn on the TV. "Harry Potter?" I ask rather than declaring. "Sounds fun," Ares says and I sit up so that I don't fall asleep during the movie. Noah starts with the first movie, not that I mind and we all settle down with Ares in between me and Noah. We had already finished the first movie and were on the scene in the second movie where Harry meets Lockhart. "I'm hungry." Ares suddenly states. I turn to look at him but agree with him in my mind since I'm very hungry myself. It would just be rude to say so. "What do you want to eat then?" Noah questions while sitting up straighter. "Burgers" Is all Ares says and Noah gets up to get some or get someone to get it. That did not make sense. My brain hurts just like my body does. "You alright Elle?" Ares questions me and so do I. "Yeah I'm fine." I tell him and we both go back to watching the movie. 

Noah comes back with the burgers just as Hermione starts making the potion. Noah turns off the TV and both me and Ares make sounds of protest. "Come on you two dinner first," Noah says and I get up to follow him to the kitchen while Ares is still sitting. "Ares. Come on." Noah says and Ares finally gets up. We all sit in the kitchen and eat silently. Once we are done I help them with cleaning before going to the living area and grabbing my bag. "I really should go now. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" I ask them and Ares pouts before hugging me. "Of course. Be careful. Text us when you get home." Ares says and I smile at the fact that he's already acting overprotective and it has only been two days. "I would. But I don't have your number." I tell Ares. He gestures me to give him my phone and I do so. After getting Ares's number I say bye and leave. I reach home within 10 minutes and fall on my bed before gathering all my strength and taking my phone from my bag. I call Jer and take off my shoes. "Hey, Elle." Jer greets as soon as answers. "Hey, Jer. How's the Elena bomb?" I ask him jokingly. "I wouldn't be joking if I were you, Elle. The Elena bomb is about ready to drop on you." Jer tells me and I groan. Great. "I'll handle it. How are you? What about Vicki?" I ask him worried about his sanity along with his drug-free life. Since Elena could probably drive even Satan to suicide. Huh, that would be funny. "I'm fine. Great actually. Vicki's better too. She's back in school and yes I keep an eye on her. I still have the vervain syringe you gave me. How was your first day?" He says and I almost sigh in relief. "Okay, that's good. My first day was okay. It was only a tour and introduction today. I also went for training which was tiring and I feel like I'm about to die." I tell him and we both talk about his school day before I decide to say bye since I'm about ready to fall asleep and I still have to call Matt about his mom. "Okay Jer, I'll call you tomorrow. Love you." I tell him. "Take care, Elle. Love you too." He says and I cut the call. Before calling Matt I send a text to Ares so that he doesn't have a heart attack or something. 

Matt answers at the second ring, "Hey Matt." I greet and hear a bit of shuffling before I hear, "Hey Ari." I hear Matt and Ty both greet me. "Hey, guys. How are you? Care told me your mom's home and Jer told me that Vicki is home and back in school. What about your dad Ty?" I ask more than just worried. Kelly is a disaster and her visits always end up with Matt hurt and Vicki feeling unwanted. Matt would always tell us how Kelly treated Vicki badly and how she made Vicki feel unneeded and less. Kelly was the reason for Vicki's drug abuse. "We're fine Ari. As for mom, well me and Vicki are doing our best to avoid her. And yeah Vicki is back home and in school. She's doing great. Thanks, Ari for helping her." Matt says before Ty continues, "I'm fine Ari. I haven't been home in some time. Vicki doesn't mind me here so... I talked to my mom and she thinks I should come back home. What do you think Ari?" I don't even think before answering, "Of course not Ty. I know staying with Matt is not a permanent solution but for now, please stay. You can go back when your parents before busy during the whole founders' business and only to test waters. If even one thing goes wrong you have to go back to Matt's we'll then come up with a different solution. Okay?" I ask him not liking the idea of him going home to his pissed off dad. "Don't worry Ari. I won't go. I'll do as you said. How are you anyways? Do you like it there?" Ty questions before Matt continues, "Yeah wasn't it your first day today?" I smile as I lie down on my bed. "I'm fine. And I like it here, I made two friends went to a club and toured New York. As for today being the first day, it was only about a tour and introduction. My classes start tomorrow." I tell them and yawn as I feel my eyes droop. "That's great Ari. Why don't get some sleep? You sound tired. We'll talk later." Matt says and I feel grateful to friends like them. "Okay. I'll call you guys later. Love you, take care. And call me if anything happens." I tell them, well more like order them. "Of course Ari. You'll be the first one we call. We love you too. Take care and have fun." Matt says while Ty makes a noise in agreement and we cut the call. I sigh before standing to change into some shorts and a loose t-shirt. I lie back down on my bed, set my alarm and shut off the lights before closing my eyes.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Elena Bomb

TWO WEEKS LATER

I wake up at 5:30 and go to take a shower. I get out feeling refreshed and get dressed into some denim, a grey sweater, and a grey beanie. I put on some black boots and start the coffee machine while mixing the batter for waffle. After finishing my breakfast I check to see if I forgot anything before locking the apartment and heading towards the academy. I reach 10 minutes earlier and go sit in the Aesthetics class and start reading the books provided. Soon enough everyone is here and the teacher arrives too. I haven't really made any friends but I don't mind, I have Ares. The teacher starts talking and I start to take notes. After sitting through the two theory classes its time for the practical class and to submit our very first weekly assignment. I have worked on it the whole weekend with help from both Ares and Noah. The assignment was to draw something beautiful using the darker and colder shades. I hand over the assignment which is a painting of a girl standing holding a flower in her hand and looking down on it. The only colors I used were black and silver grey. The painting made it seem like the moon was the only source of light. After all the classes are over we are handed our logbooks back and I have to physically stop from opening it to see my very first grade since they hadn't given one for the first week. I resist the urge to open and look as I see many glare at their logbooks. I quickly leave for Noah and Ares's house.

I reach within fifteen minutes and go up to the penthouse. As soon as the elevator door opens I step out and rush towards the living area in hopes of finding Ares but only find Noah there. "Hey Noah, where's Ares?" I ask as I sit down on the sofa chair. "He's at the boutique, working. Ready for our lessons?" Noah questions while setting down the book he was reading. "Yeah. Let's go." I say and go up the stairs and to the room, Ares has officially declared mine. Seriously it even has clothes and canvases and paints. I change into some leggings, t-shirt, and shoes. I go towards the training room. "Start with the machines today." Noah orders as soon as I reach. This is how it has been between us. While I have developed a close bond with Ares, Noah and I have grown apart. I don't hate him and he doesn't hate me but he's stopped trying to be my friend. I honestly wished he hadn't, I hate this; it's as though we're complete strangers. My fighting skills have improved drastically though. According to Ares, I'm a natural. As I finish the last machine Noah gestures me to the mat. We both start fighting, well I start to attack and he defends while occasionally attacking to see how my reflexes are. After about fifteen minutes we take a break. "How about vampire hunting tonight? To test your skills?" Noah asks as we sit down. I think about it before nodding. "Sure. Sounds fun." I tell him while drinking some water.

We were done practicing and were sitting downstairs waiting for Ares to come home so we can go to some club and hunt a vampire. I'm reading The Maze Runner and hear my phone ring upstairs. Great. I sigh and walk-up. I get into my room and close the door and lock it. Locking the door activates some sort of a spell that prevents Noah from eavesdropping. I check my phone to see its Elena, again. I have ignored her calls for the past two weeks in hopes that she would get the message apparently not. I sigh again and answer already regretting it. "Hey, Elena." I greet dryly. "Arielle are you crazy..." Elena starts and I take the phone away from my ear and put it on mute before keeping it beside me. This way I don't have to listen to her and I can get it over with. After an hour there is a knock at the door. I have been painting while Elena has been shouting through the phone. Yup for an hour. I open the door to see its Ares. "Hey." I greet him and give him a hug. He smiles before frowning looking at my clothes which are covered in paint. "Sorry?" I say more like a question and Ares just sighs. He comes and looks at my phone questioningly. "What? Who is that?" Ares asks as Noah comes in too. "It's my sister Elena. I have been avoiding her for the past two weeks and she's pissed." I tell him sitting back down and continuing my painting. "Huh. Alright then. Change. We're leaving in 10 minutes." Ares says while setting down a dress on my bed. I frown at it but nod anyway. "Okay," I say and they both leave. I lock the door and go to change. 

As I come back out I take my phone and put it on my ear. "Look Arielle you can't just tell Jeremy things like these. It's dangerous and I just want to protect him. Tell Stefan that you don't mind erasing Jeremy's memories...." I roll my eyes before taking my phone off mute and shouting Elena's name. She shuts up. Thank god. "Look Elena while ignorance is bliss, in this situation its only death. Jer has every right to know what you're dragging him into. I won't tell your boyfriend that I'm okay with Jer's memory compulsion, cause I'm not. Jer's my brother too and while I am worried about him, he can make his own decisions. I also don't care what you think or want. So bye." I tell her sarcastically for the most part. "Well did your brother tell you what I told him?" Elena asks emphasizing your brother. "No Elena I have no idea what you're talking about," I tell her while rolling my eyes again. "Well then let me tell you. We're adopted." She says and I can almost see her smile. I freeze for a second before answering, "Big deal Elena. Our mom and dad are still going to be Grayson and Miranda Gilbert because they are the ones that raised us. Besides Elena, I'm not a drama queen like you." I tell her while trying not to think about how Jer knew and didn't tell me. "What do you mean? Don't you care? I even found our birth mother's name." Elena exclaims shocked. "No Elena I don't care. Why should I care about the people who abandoned me? I'm not going to waste my time thinking about the people who abandoned me, instead, I will do right by my parents and respect them for raising us as their own." I tell her before cutting the call and sitting on my bed. I sigh and focus on vampire hunting for the night.

I go downstairs to see Ares and Noah waiting. I walk towards them and give them a smile. We soon reach the club I don't bother to see the name of. We go inside and Ares leaves to get drinks while Noah looks around and I do the same. I tap Noah's arm and point towards a guy who seems to be busy seducing someone. Noah nods his head signaling that the man is a vamp and is most probably seducing his next meal. Ares comes back with our drinks. "How did it go with your sister?" Ares asks. I grimace before shrugging and Ares gets the idea. Noah taps my arm and I see that the man is leading the woman towards the back. "I'll handle the woman. Think you can take care of him alone?" Noah asks. "Yeah. I think so." I tell him. We both get up and follow the couple. Noah zooms and the woman disappears. The man looks around confused and I take my chance. I lunge towards him hitting the back of his knees with force and before he can process anything I empty a vervain dart in him. I stand in front of him with a stake in my hand but hesitate to look at him, I don't know if he has done anything wrong. How can I just kill him? What if he's innocent? As questions run through my head I'm slammed into a wall. I look around confused before screaming in pain as I see the woman standing on my leg and applying pressure to it. I can feel it breaking and bite my lip to stop from screaming and in a blur, the woman is dead on the ground and Noah is standing above me with a heart in his hands and a pissed off look. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you hesitate?" Noah asks angrily while pulling me up. I hiss a little at the pain in my leg before looking down at ground ashamed of myself. Noah sighs and places his bloody wrist in front of me, I sigh but take a little blood none the less. We walk back towards the club. 

I look at Noah and stand in front of him to stop him. "I'm sorry. It just felt wrong to kill him." I tell him and he nods. I smile at him. I sigh looking down at my dress knowing Ares is going to be mad. "Why? Why did it feel wrong?" Noah asks. We are near the club and I see a bench outside. I gesture for Noah to sit and I do the same. "I used to think my dad was a hero. He was a doctor. He saved lives. I always saw him in that light, like a superhero who would save the day. Once when me and Elena were playing in his office our ball fell down the stairs towards the basement, we went down even though it was restricted and heard weird noises. Elena decided to go back up the stairs and ignore it. I was curious and went towards the door. Before I could see what it was my dad was already there telling how I shouldn't be there. I kept trying to see what was in the door and one day I did. It was a man, he was strapped to a table and I sneaked in curious as ever. I watched as my dad started to... I kept watching until dad went to literally scoop the man's eyes out and I screamed. Dad was shocked and tried to convince me he was doing good. Looking for a cure for all diseases. I couldn't stop looking at him, the man. He looked so helpless and tired, I smiled at him when he looked at me and he did the same. No matter what my dad said, it wasn't right and I knew it. I would go down every day, sneak in and talk to him. He would tell me about his life as a human and as a vampire. I realized he was more or less innocent, even if he wasn't; no one deserved that, no one deserved to be experimented on, to be in pain every single day and to starve every minute. I met him every day for two years and had finally gathered enough courage to let my friend go. But when I went back downstairs everything was gone. My dad knew and he took the man away. His name was Enzo. I couldn't save him and I knew dad was still experimenting on him. I hated it. I don't like taking someone's life, Noah. It's not my decision to make. I don't get to decide who lives and who doesn't; I never want to... I don't want to be a monster. How do I know Noah? When I have crossed the line to become one? How do I know my dad hadn't crossed it?" I ask Noah crying a bit. He pulls me to him and I wrap my arms around him. 

After I calm down a bit I go to pull away but Noah holds me in place. "Its okay Elle. If you don't want to kill. I don't think there is a definite line that tells you if you're a monster. I don't know if your dad was one. But I know you aren't. I know you never could be." He pulls back and looks at me, "Never let anyone tell you otherwise Elle. Because you aren't a monster and you never could be. We won't do this again I promise. We'll just train. No hunting." Noah says and wipes my tears. "Thanks," I whisper before leaning into him. I see him text someone probably Ares. "Do you hate me? Do you think I'm a monster?" Noah asks and I sit upright. What? "No. I don't Noah. I don't hate you or think that you're a monster. I just don't know you. I know a bit about Ares. I know nothing about you. That's it. I don't hate you." I tell him with a smile. He smiles back. "Do you want to then? Know me?" He asks and I smile and nod. I do want to be his friend. "I'm not just a vampire, I'm a hybrid of vampire and Warlock, now known as Heretic. My mother was a witch and my father a human. I was born without any powers of my own. I soon found out that I could draw power though, from anything magical. Mostly known as Siphoners now, that's what I was. When my mother found out she was furious and basically shunned me, called me an abomination. I still had my siblings though which was good enough. All my life my mother treated me like a slave and when I turned I became powerful since vampirism is magic and I could draw from my own blood. My mother was furious as I became more powerful than her and even more so when she found out my brother had trained me all these years. Up until I met Ares I couldn't help but always feel like an abomination like my mother had raised me to believe. He's the one who made me realize that I'm anything but that. My life truly started after I met Ares as cheesy as that sounds." He tells me with a soft smile. I smile at him before saying, "He's right. You're not an abomination. You're just different and unique. Your mother, on the other hand, sounds like a cruella." He laughs at my term. "I guess she was." He agrees and we both laugh and I hug him again. "Thank you. You saved my life." I whisper and pull back when I hear Ares shout, "What in the world happened?" Noah just smiles at him and leads us back to the penthouse.

I go up to my room and change into some shorts and a t-shirt. I go downstairs for dinner time. I sit next to Ares as Noah is preparing food. "You alright?" Ares asks and Noah glances back and smiles at me. I smile back before answering, "Yeah Ares. I'm fine." I say and hand him my logbook, he looks at me questioningly. "Please see what grade I got," I beg him. He laughs before opening the book. He smiles before saying, "Congratulations, it's a B+." I laugh happy with it and give him a hug. Soon dinner is ready and I eat while my mind keeps drifting off to the fact that I'm adopted and Jer knew and didn't tell me. I feel a tap on my arm and turn to look at Ares. "Everything alright? You seem particularly upset since the phone call." Ares asks worried and Noah nods in agreement. "Yeah, it's just...Elena told me that we're adopted. It doesn't bother me since I loved... love my parents and I don't care about the people who abandoned me. It's just that Jer knew and he didn't tell me. Why?" I ask Ares feeling vulnerable. "Maybe he just thought you would think of him as less of your brother if you knew," Ares tells me and I realize he is right. "Thanks, Ares. I have to go and call him." I tell him and kiss his cheek which is normal since he has become like a brother. "Of course. Are you sure you're okay with being adopted though?" Noah asks. "I think so. I mean a family isn't about blood at least according to Dean Winchester and he is never wrong. On a serious note though, I'm fine. I don't care that some people abandoned me, I care that my parents were amazing enough people who took care of us like their own and never let us feel any less than Jer or let us feel unwanted." I tell them honestly and they smile at me.

I call Jer as soon as I reach my room and lock the door. He answers at the fourth ring. "Hey, Elle. What grade did you get on the first assignment?" Jer asks excitedly as soon as he answers the call and I chuckle. "Hey, Jer. I got a B+. I wanted to talk to you about something though." I tell him with a little worry in my tone. "Of course Elle. What is it?" Jer asks sounding a bit scared. "Why didn't you tell me? You knew I was adopted so why didn't you tell me?" I ask him with my voice only a whisper and almost cracking. "Elle... Elena told you, huh? I'm sorry. I just didn't... I didn't want you to think I wasn't your brother anymore. I'm sorry Elle, I didn't mean to hurt or upset you." Jer whispers and I can tell he's on the verge of crying and is probably filled with guilt. "Its okay Jer. Just because we aren't blood-related doesn't mean you aren't my brother anymore. It doesn't change anything Jer, you're still My Jer, My brother. Okay? This doesn't change anything, not for me; does it change anything for you?" I ask while wiping away the few tears that escaped. "No Elle. Of course not. It doesn't change anything. You're still My Elle, My sister." Jer says and I can imagine him grinning. When we were little people would always say that someday Jer and I would have to leave each other and that we would each find someone who matters more and I would always say that he would always be My Jer no matter who comes in his life. Jer would do the same and people would be shocked at how possessive we are of each other. And it sort of became a reassurance over time. "How is everything? Are you okay?" I ask Jer after we just slip into silence for a minute. "Everything is fine. I'm okay too. I have my grades back on track, even though they aren't A's but still. I... I'm not friends with Anna anymore either. Vicki and I are friends... I am happy. I just can't wait for you to come back." Jer rants and I laugh a little. "I'm glad you're happy. And good to know that you aren't friends with the vampire that tried to kill me. Just be careful okay?" I ask him worried that he would get hurt in the supernatural hurricane. "I will be. I promise. I'll call you tomorrow?" Jer asks and I smile, "Yeah. Okay. Love you Jer. Take care." I tell him. "Love you too Elle. Be safe." Jer says and I cut the call. I lie down on my bed which is way too comfortable.

After just lying in bed for a few minutes I go back down to see Ares working while Noah is reading again. I sit down next to Ares who is trying to make a suit design for Noah's award party. Apparently, his hotel is winning an award. I think. "Need help?" I ask Ares. Even though I'm not big on dresses or makeup, the past two weeks of being friends with Ares has changed a lot. For example, I can actually do makeup on my own; I usually don't but I can if I need to. I can also apparently design clothes, I don't know why Ares thinks I can. And I also wear dresses occasionally now. "Yes. Definitely. Noah is no help whatsoever." Ares says with slight anger but Noah just chuckles, not even bothering to look up. I take the sketchpad Ares hands me and start to draw what I imagine Noah would gladly wear. An all-red three-piece with a blue or white shirt and no tie. I color it and hand it over to Ares. "So...?" I ask Ares as he stares at the page along with Noah. "I like it," Noah says and smiles at me. "It's nice. Thank you, Elle." Ares says and relaxes back into the couch. I smile at them and lie down with my head on Ares's lap. It had become a habit to stay at their place most of the time. I sometimes even sleep here rather than in my own apartment. "You're coming too right?" Ares asks me. "Coming where?" I ask him confused as to what he was talking about. "To the award function. It's not a question, by the way, you're going whether you like it or not." Noah says. I sigh knowing there's no way out. "You can wear the dress I bought you last week," Ares says, that was something Ares has been doing, if he finds a dress he thinks would look good on me, he gets it and keeps it in my room here. He had forced to wear the dress he bought me when we went to tour New York just a few days ago when he dragged me to some event since Noah was busy and he didn't want to go alone. "Sure Ares. Whatever you want." I agree knowing that he will have his way, whenever I say no to something Ares wants he either gives me the silent treatment or gives me these looks that make it feel like I threatened to kill Noah and he's begging me to spare his life; which means I eventually have to agree with him. So I don't argue anymore.

We were all sitting in silence, Noah was reading his book again, Ares was sketching; something he does when he's bored and I have my head in Ares's lap and have my eyes closed since my head hurts. "Staying here tonight?" I hear Ares ask. "Yeah. I think I'm going to go to sleep." I tell him and stand up. "Alright. Goodnight." Ares says and I hug him before doing the same to Noah who seems surprised. "Goodnight," I tell them and go up the stairs. I get to my room and lock the door. I clean up all the things that were just laying around in my room and then go clean up myself and then go before lying down on my bed. I close my eyes and try to sleep but my head keeps throbbing. I sigh before deciding to ask Ares if he had something for a headache. I go downstairs and neither Ares nor Noah are there. I debate whether or not to disturb them. I go back to my room and look through the cabinets in the bathroom to see if there's any medicine for a headache. I finally find Ibuprofen and take a pill while swallowing it with water and then wash my face with cold water. I sit back down on my bed waiting for my headache to go down. After a few minutes, I feel the pain lessen and sigh in relief and lie down on my bed in hopes of getting enough sleep so I'm not tired the whole day at the academy tomorrow. I turn off the lights and close my eyes as I finally feel sleep taking over and the pain dulling to a numb sensation.


	8. Chapter 7 - The Truth

ONE AND A HALF WEEK LATER 

I wake up peacefully since it's a Saturday and I don't have to go anywhere. My peace is broken by the ringing of my phone, I groan in annoyance before looking for my phone. I feel it on my bed and answer it, "Hello?" I ask as soon as I answer. "I've been calling you for an hour." I hear Ares's voice shout through the phone and pull it away from my ear before sighing and sitting up. I look at the clock to see its only 9 o'clock. "Why? It's a Saturday Ares, let me rest." I say a little annoyed and grumpy. "Well I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I need you to get here now." Ares orders. "What? Come on Ares I just woke up, I haven't taken a shower or eaten yet. It's only 9, do I really need to come right now?" I ask Ares while lying back on the bed. "Yes, you do. You can shower and eat here. Be here in the next 15 minutes or I will... just get here. Now." Ares says sounding worried and tensed and cuts the call before I can reply. I sigh before getting out of bed. I look down and see that I'm wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, so I decide against changing and take my phone and head towards the door.

I reach the penthouse within 10 minutes and go to the kitchen. "Hey, Noah." I greet and hug him. He smiles at me, "Hey Elle, looking good." He says sarcastically. "Funny. Where's Ares? And what are you making?" I ask him while sitting down on a chair. "Right here," Ares says as he comes into the kitchen and glares at me. What did I do? "Hey, Ares." I greet him with a smile. He just glares. I turn to Noah with a questioning look. "I'm making French Toast. Ares is stressed because the award function is today." Noah answers while setting down plates. I get up and hug Ares who does not return the gesture, "I'm sorry, I forgot. What do you need help with?" I ask him as he finally hugs me back and sighs. "I need you to eat and shower first, till then I'll get Noah ready. After you're done we'll get you ready." Ares tells me and I mentally groan knowing Ares is going to go full out. I pull back and sit back down on my chair. "So I really have to go? And wear a dress and makeup?" I ask them. "Yes to both," Ares answers with a smile. "Fine," I say and start eating my breakfast. 

I go to my room as soon as we finish breakfast and take a nice long shower trying to prolong the inevitable. I step out and am surprised to see a Jumpsuit on the bed instead of a dress and feel relieved not wanting to spend hours in a dress again. The Jumpsuit is black and full length, the sleeves are off-shoulder and there is a silver belt in the middle. I put it on. I take a small clutch that is silver and has two stakes and two vervain darts like all my wallets, clutches and bags do. I go towards Noah and Ares's room and knock and wait, Noah opens the door and gestures me in. He's already dressed in his suit with his hair already styled. I go in to see Ares already dressed and putting finishing touches to his makeup. "Doesn't the event start at 12? Why are we getting ready so early?" I ask Noah. "It takes an hour to get there and it's already 10. Also, we have to reach at least half an hour earlier." Noah explains and I just nod. Ares finishes and gestures me to sit. After about 15 minutes we're done since I didn't want too much makeup. After Ares triple checks everything we finally leave. I sit in the backseat and check my phone since Jer didn't answer my call yesterday and hasn't replied to my texts either.

"What's your assignment this week?" I hear Ares ask. I turn towards him and smile. "I'm supposed to sketch anything that catches my eye. Not really sure what that means but I'll try." I tell him while trying to ignore the urge to call or text Jer till he finally answers. "I think it means that you should sketch whatever you find beautiful. Don't worry too much, I'm sure you'll do great." Ares tells me and I smile at him. "Can we go somewhere tomorrow? I'm bored and I haven't even seen much of New York, just the places we went to on the first day." I ask Ares. "Sure. Where do you want to go?" Ares questions. "I don't know. I read that there is ice skating in Rockefeller Center. Can we do that?" I ask Ares and Noah. "Of course we can. Do you know how to ice skate?" Noah questions while smirking a bit. "No. I still want to try though." I tell him. "Well, then ice skating tomorrow." Ares declares. 

We reached there in an hour as Noah had said. After a few formalities, we were led towards a table. While I went and sat down Noah and Ares went to meet a few other people there. I check my phone again to see there were still no notifications. I decided to call him and wait but he didn't answer. I tried again and one more time before Ares and Noah came back and sat down. I decided to call him later and instead focused on the event. "Everything okay?" Noah asks. "Yeah. Everything's fine. What award are you getting again?" I ask him instead. "I don't know if I am getting an award. We'll find out though." He tells me and I smile at him. The host starts by introducing himself and welcoming everyone. He then announces all the awards that are going to be distributed. The event is apparently international. I look to see Ares glaring at some guy at the opposite table and nudge Noah. "Why is he glaring?" I ask Noah curiously. Noah looks over before replying. "His name's Jason. He owns one of the biggest hotel chains in the USA. He tried to 'woe' me last year, went as far as insulting Ares's choice in clothing. Ares nearly punched him but refrained and instead retorted by saying, 'My choice in clothing might not be the greatest, but my choice in a life partner is phenomenal, don't you agree?' Then took my arm and strutted off in the other direction while muttering under his breath about how his suit looked better than the piece of clothing the jerk was wearing." Noah replies while laughing lightly. I laugh with him and imagine Ares actually saying that with his head held high and sass dripping from his tone. 

The rest of the ceremony is actually very boring. Noah's hotel wins an award for being the Cleanest and Most Hygienic Hotel in New York. His hotel also won an award for having Friendly and Helpful Staff. After the ceremony was over and the after-party started and I glared at the two even though I should have expected it. I go and order a non-alcoholic drink and sit down on a stool. I take a sip of my drink which tastes like strawberry but before I can drink anymore Ares is taking the drink out of my hand and dragging me away. "Ares, what are you doing? And when are we going to have lunch? I'm hungry." I tell him with a glare. "We can have lunch after you provide me moral support. And we are... How do I look?" Ares suddenly stops us and asks looking nervous which is unlike him. I look back to where he keeps glancing and see Noah talking to Jason. Oh, poor Ares."You look amazing Ares, if anyone thinks otherwise then they're obviously blind." I tell him while giving him a hug. He visibly relaxes and smiles when he pulls back before straightening and holding out his arm for me. I take his arm and we walk towards Noah who looks towards us and smiles when we get close enough. 

We reach and Noah wraps his arm around Ares's waist as I let go of his arm but stay next to him. He mouths a thanks and I smile back at him. "Ah Ares, wonderful seeing you again. I see you haven't changed your style or your life decisions, unfortunately." Jason says. I wonder if Ares would cast a spell on him right here if he went too far or even if Noah would. I don't know why he was even saying anything about Ares's clothes when he was wearing a black suit with a bow tie that made him look like a butler. "It's not a big deal. I mean you should be worried about yourself." I tell him while giving him a sympathetic smile. "Excuse me, you are?" He asks while looking me up and down while licking his lips. "Well, I am a minor for one. And for two, Noah and Ares's friend, Arielle." I tell him. He clears his throat and gives me a smile that makes me want to punch him repeatedly. "Ah, my name is Jason. A pleasure to meet you. And whatever do you mean? I have nothing to worry about." He tells me while still smiling in a very pervert and arrogant way. "I would say it's a pleasure to meet you too but it's a sin to lie. And I mean that all Ares has to worry about is changing his style, not that he needs it. He would look amazing in what you're wearing too and that's saying something. You, on the other hand, would need a plastic surgery to actually look good in anything." I tell Jason while smiling a bit and trying not to laugh out loud as his face turns a bit red with anger and the fact that Ares is not even trying to suppress his laughter. Jason glares at me and says, "Mind your tongue, little girl. If I wanted I could do whatever I want to you and no one would be able to help you. No one would be able to find you... well your body." He says with a sick smile and I clench my hand as I feel Ares about to take a step forward. I stop him before turning towards Jason, "I don't need someone to help me, I can do it myself. And you know what I take that back. Not even plastic surgery would be any help to you." I tell him with a smile while trying my hardest not to punch him. He just glares before leaving and I know that it wasn't the last of it. I smile at Noah and Ares when they look at me worryingly. "Food?" I ask them. They both laugh and lead me to a table. 

We had finished eating and were now talking to people which I found boring. I nudge Ares and whisper, "I'm going to the restroom." He smiles and whispers back, "It's right through there. Be careful." I smile at him and nod before going towards the direction he had pointed towards. I stand in front of the mirror debating on whether or not to call Jer before I decide to call Care instead and take my phone out of my clutch. I call and wait but it goes to voicemail I sigh before deciding against leaving a message and sigh before shoving my phone back in my clutch. I run my hand through my hair and try not to worry too much to avoid giving myself a panic attack. I breathe deeply once before grabbing my clutch and heading back towards the ceremony. I crash into someone when I'm almost to the door and sigh in frustration before apologizing. "It's not a worry." A vaguely familiar voice but before I can look up I'm slammed into a wall. Seriously? Do vampires have a thing for slamming people into walls? 

I look up to see is Jason and gulp since my clutch is lying on the floor and my brain is very much scattered. "You shouldn't have insulted me little girl. Now you're going to pay." He whispers before tightening his grip on my neck. I take a shaky breath trying to come up with something, anything but can already feel tears forming. Even though my brain is too scattered to form a plan I glare up at him. "What nothing to say? I thought you didn't need anyone's help, how will you help yourself now?" He asks sarcastically before bringing his other hand to my waist and then my back where the zipper. My brain is screaming but it's as though all the screams are mute. I feel tears fall down as he kisses me and in that moment his hand is already working the Jumpsuit's zipper. He pulls away when the zipper is all the way down and smiles that sick smile again before pushing the top down and even though I still have my bra and the belt is still holding the Jumpsuit I have never felt so naked before. He smiles again before kissing me again as his hands roam around and I close my eyes tightly and try to remember everything Noah had taught me. I'm not going to let some sick guy do this to me. I can help myself. I finally get my thoughts together and open my eyes before kicking him and punching him twice not giving him the chance to recover before I have hit his knee hard enough to break it. He growls in anger and pain and I kick his back harshly and he falls down, before I can get to my clutch he catches hold of my leg and pulls me down and I scream a little as his hand breaks my ankle. He climbs on top of me and I stretch my hand in hopes of getting my clutch as he holds my other hand above my head with which I had been hitting him. His other hand works on the belt a little more furiously this time and as he succeeds and smiles at me, I bring my hand up and punch his chest and watch as a golden glow appears and he flies back a little distance before gathering my clutch and grabbing a stake just in time as he comes towards me again. As he wraps his hand on neck while the other one is crushing my hip bone I bring the stake up and put it through his chest with as much force as I can. It's like in the movies, everything slows down and he breathes one last time before collapsing to the side as I hold my head feeling tears fall down.

I have already dressed and washed my face which is of no use as tears keep falling. I keep trying to stop my tears and get my breathing under control. After a few more minutes my breathing evens out and the tears have stopped. I get my clutch and call Ares while trying not to stare at Jason's body. He answers on the first ring itself. "Elle, where are you? Me and Noah have been looking for you." Ares says through the phone and I hear Noah's voice in the background. "A...Ares I... I'm in a restroom. It... It's further back. Please come f... fast." I tell him trying my best not to stutter. "Of course Elle. We'll be there in a second. Calm down." He tells me and cuts the call and not even a few seconds later the door opens. I turn to see Noah and Ares, Noah is staring at Jason while Ares looks towards me. "Elle?" He questions and walks towards. I want to cry and scream but I can't do anything but stare at Ares. He walks towards me carefully and wraps his arms around me and I do the same holding onto him tightly. "Its okay Elle, everything's fine." He whispers and I tighten my hold on him. "Ares take Elle to the car I'll handle this." I hear Noah say and let go off Ares a bit. He pulls back but keeps one of his arms around me. Noah hands him the keys and we walk out the door. 

Ares is staring at me as we sit in the car waiting for Noah. "Elle? Are you... Do you need anything?" He asks me and I just shake my head. Ares continues to stare at me so I turn to look at him. "I'm fine Ares. It was nothing. Don't worry too much I was just shaken up." I tell him while attempting to smile. He looks unconvinced and says, "Elle it wasn't nothing. Are you okay? Please talk to me." I clench my fist. "I told you, Ares, I'm fine. It was nothing." I say a bit harshly. He nods and takes my hands in his. "Okay. If you need anything or anyone just know that I'll always be here." He says and I smile a little and nod. "I know. Can I stay over?" I ask him. "Of course. Always." Noah comes back soon enough but thankfully doesn't say anything, he hands me a small glass of his blood and I drink without hesitation as I feel the pain creeping up. He gets in and drives. We get back and I go to my room and take a long burning shower while trying to physically scrub him off. Once I'm satisfied I change into some leggings and a t-shirt. I don't go downstairs instead try to think of something to sketch for this week's assignment. But my thoughts start to wander off towards what happened and tears form in my eyes once more. I am snapped out of my thoughts by a knock on the door and look down to see the imprints of my nails on my hands, into which I had been digging my nails unknowingly. I whisper it's open but don't make any move to get up. Ares opens the door and comes in, "Come on sweetheart time for dinner." He says as he sits in front of me. "I'm not hungry Ares, besides we just had lunch," I tell him and he looks at me with pity and little confusion. "Sweetheart it's almost been 4 hours since we got back. Are you okay?" He asks. 4 hours? I look towards the clock and see it's quarter to 8. "Yeah I'm fine, just lost track of time. I've been trying to decide this week's assignment. I'm not hungry though, I'm just going to watch a movie or something." I tell Ares while trying to smile. "I don't care if you're not hungry, please just eat for mine and Noah's sake. Please, just a bit. Come on." Ares pleads while standing and holding his hand towards me. I sigh but take his hand knowing neither of them will give up and will force-feed me if necessary. "Okay," I whisper. 

We reach the kitchen and I see Noah setting the table. "Hey, just in time. Foods ready. Sit." Noah tells us well me mostly. I sit down on a chair and Ares sits next to me instead of the opposite side with Noah as usual. Ares sets a full plate in front of me and I absentmindedly start to eat. As I try to focus my mind on the food I notice Noah and Ares both staring at me. I sigh before saying, "I'm fine, please stop staring." They both look down at their plates. "What time will we go tomorrow to ice skate?" I ask after I get bored of just moving my food around the plate. "You sure you still want to go? We could do something else." Noah offers. "No, I still want to go. I'm not going to let one event control my life and I just want to forget and move on. So can we?" I ask them and they both smile and nod. "What am I?" I ask Ares after we ask just fall into silence. "You sure you want to know?" He asks instead and I nod, "Yeah, today when... I couldn't reach my clutch for the stake and so I punched him and he flew a few feet away. I want to know." I tell them. "We should move to the living room, it's more comfortable," Ares suggests. We all clean up the kitchen since dinner was over and then move to the living room. Once we are settled Noah starts, "Well you are a hybrid of sort. You are half a Traveler in simple terms, a witch with inferior powers. After a very powerful witch created an immortality spell, a divide was created. Half wanted to ban such powerful spells and the other half were inspired and wanted to do even greater spells. The ones who wanted to stay true are now known as Witches; who cursed the other half in the fear of what they might be able to do. The cursed ones became known as Travelers. While Witches draw from nature Travelers can't do that, they are also weaker. Even though they are weak alone if bought together the Travelers could perform great spells. The other half of you is a bit difficult to explain." Noah explains as I try to digest all the information. "So I'm a witch but not strong enough to perform a spell?" I ask a bit confused. "Of course you can cast spells with proper training, you can't actually take the magic out of someone's blood," Ares tells me. "Okay. What's the other half?" I ask them. 

Ares gets up and brings out a book from the shelf. It looks ancient and has writing on it in Greek. "The other half of the species you are doesn't have a name or title of sorts. When Witches started to become rogue and Werewolves came into existence it's said that a species was created by shamans. Even though created by a shaman they were believed to be God's Warriors by humans and later were known as machitís, Greek for fighter. The machitís killed witches that would tread into dark magic; and wolves who became too power-hungry and killed their own. When vampires came into existence they were known to kill them as well, very brutally too. Machitís had powers superior to all three species and for years they were feared by all of them too. In the late 1500s, the machitís killed a whole coven of witches, burned them for no reason; children included. It had scared everyone to know that they would go as far as that. So a group of sorts was formed of all three species and by the beginning of the 1600s all of the machitís had been killed." Ares says. "When we first met you we only thought you were a Traveler, who are hard to come across too. Even when we found out that you were a machitís too, we couldn't believe it. While they were known to be ruthless you were like a polar opposite and the more we got to know you the more confusing it got." Noah continues. "But I don't get it. If they were killed centuries ago then how am I one? Does that mean my sister is one too or that my parents were?" I ask confused and lost. "No, that's not how their kind or well your kind works. It's not about the blood but instead, your kind are chosen at birth itself by the shaman himself. He is obviously dead but the magic he used was powerful enough to choose its heir. And yes most of your kind were killed by the 1600s, but it doesn't mean that there weren't anymore. Since it's not passed through blood anything's possible." Noah clarifies which just confuses me more. "Okay so, I belong to a very powerful and brutal species, but most of them were killed in the 1600's hundreds. So what? I'm supposed to kill people now? And I really am not that powerful." I ask while trying hard to make sense of it all. "No... no, you don't have to kill if you don't want to. Your powers will develop the more you train but to get the actual full powers of your kind you would need to have a near-death experience." Noah tells me. "Okay. How near?" I ask. They both look at each other then turn back to me. "Well your heart would have to stop for a few seconds before starting again," Ares explains. "Wow. Sounds fun." I tell him sarcastically. 

"Do you want to know anything else?" Noah asks. "No, I don't think my brain can process anymore. I think I'm going to go to sleep. Thanks for telling me." I tell them. "Of course. Good night." Ares says and hugs me. I hug him back. Noah wishes me good night and hugs me too. I go up to my room and settle down with my journal and start writing. After I'm done I take a book to read since I didn't want my mind to drift back like earlier again and start reading. After a while of staring at the same page, I give up on reading and decide to listen to music on the Zune that Ty gave me. I put it on shuffle before turning off the lights, closing my eyes and trying to sleep.


	9. Arielle's Powers

_**TRAVELER** : _

**HISTORY:-**

After Silas and Qetsiyah created the spell for immortality, it caused a divide among the witches. Some were conservatives who wanted to maintain the balance of nature by not using magic to create abnormalities such as the Immortals; this faction eventually became all those Witches who wanted to serve nature. On the other hand, a group of witches that would become the Travelers known today believed that they could use their pure magic to perform greater things much like a member of theirs, Qetsiyah had created immortality. The witches, fearing the power the Travelers possessed and the things they could do to the world, placed a curse on the their entire sub-culture to prevent them from using traditional forms of magic and from gathering and settling as a tribe. 

**CHARACTERISTICS:-**

● Travelers perform spells mostly in Czech rather than Latin like witches.

● Travelers can't draw power from nature but can draw power from a talisman or magical blood like doppelganger blood.

● Travelers consider their power and magic to be pure even though they perform dark magic.

● Travelers don't stay in one place more than one day and can't form a coven in their own bodies.

● They can perform all kinds of spell but are weaker than their counterparts, Witches.

**_MACHITIS OR FIGHTER:_ **

**HISTORY:-**

Before the time of Silas and Qetsiyah a Shaman created a species stronger than any other. He created the species in the hopes of stopping deaths of human because of supernatural beings. As more species were created:- Werewolves (created by The Hollow in 500 A.D) and Vampires (created by Esther in 11th century) the Fighters gained more abilities by adapting to their enemies powers as new generations were born. They were ruthless in their killings and often referred to as God's Warriors by humans due their powers and the fact that they saved humans. All Fighters were found and trained since their childhood. Their species was believed to have been extinct after the genocide of Fighters by a supernatural group in the late 1500's.

**CHARACTERISTICS:-**

● Known to be cruel in their killings.

● They don't differentiate supernatural beings as innocent or monsters.

● They were known to form and kill in groups.

● Physically offensive magic is deflected by their bodies.

● Pain causing spells are suppressed to a bearable level.

● Werewolf bite causes dementia and immense pain but does not kill.

● Dying with vampire blood causes their bodies to convulse and become sick. Their sick bodies then expel the blood through vomiting and cause dizzy spells before their bodies heal themselves.

● Fighters can only die by a spelled bronze dagger through the heart.

● They are immortal so that they can fulfill their duties and kill as many supernatural beings as they can.

**POWERS:**

● Super healing: Their bodies can heal anything from a scratch to a broken neck all except for the wounds caused due to a spelled bronze dagger.

● Super strength: They are physically stronger than vampires and werewolves. The more they train the stronger they get.

● Agility: They are fairly quick in their attacks and while they aren't as fast as vampires they can counter and deflect attacks easily.

● Deflection: Their bodies can deflect physical magic. They cannot be compelled and vampires can't enter their thoughts or dreams without permission.

**WEAPONS:**

Fighters were trained to be versatile. They were taught to use all kinds of weapons but could choose a special weapon to excel in. They are also given a special dagger that can kill anyone and anything.

**WEAKNESS:**

1) Their weakness is plant called Valerian which causes them loose control over their movements, slows their healing ability along with rendering their strength and agility useless. Though like vampires they can develop tolerance to it. Unlike Vervain and Wolfsbane, Valerian doesn't physically hurt Fighters.

2) Fighters can only be killed by a bronze dagger through the heart. This dagger is also their weakness and can leave physical marks. There is only one such dagger in existence as it was a failsafe and the spell required to create the dagger died with the Shaman himself.


	10. Chapter 8 - One Step At A Time

TWO WEEKS LATER

I wake up to a headache, tear stains on my cheeks and sweating as I have for the past two weeks. While I have been able to somewhat keep my thoughts off the event that happened my sleep has been filled with nothing but nightmares. I haven't talked to Noah or Ares about it and while they have both been supportive I see them stare at me sometimes. I sigh as my thoughts start to go haywire again and get out of bed to get ready to go to the academy even though it's only 4:30 in the morning. I take a hot shower and get dressed in jeans and a grey sweater. I start to make breakfast and coffee. I make at least three cups of coffee knowing I'm going to need it, since I haven't been able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep in the past weeks. I try to stay awake as long as I can until my eyes start to droop due to exhaustion and even then a nightmare wakes me up within 4 hours and I can't go back to sleep. So I have formed a routine that I follow every day. After waking up I get ready, eat breakfast, practice new techniques that have been taught and then go to the academy. I pour a cup of coffee and then put the rest of it in a thermos since I would need it to stay awake in the classes.

I start to paint with an airbrush which is the newest technique that has been taught at the academy. The only good thing that comes out of these nightmares is that I can practice more and it has helped me improve my grades. I got an A for the sketch of something that caught my attention and then for last week's assignment I got another A. Today I'm supposed to submit my latest assignment which is to recreate any famous painting. I chose Starry Night by Van Gogh and had to make five times before it looked like his painting or well close to. For the next hour, I try to create a basic scenery using the airbrush. I end up making a mess and pack my things as the clock shows 6:30 before checking everything and locking the apartment and heading towards the academy. As the classes go by I find myself trapped in my thoughts more and more. And the only thing my thoughts seem to want to drift towards Jason and I almost have an episode which seems to happen more times a day as days go by. An episode is when I get so trapped in my thoughts that when I snap out of it I'm either crying or I'm suicidal. It has happened twice in class now and more than enough times at the penthouse for both Noah and Ares to notice but neither of them pressure me to say anything. After taking my logbook I go towards the penthouse not checking my grade since I know it wasn't good. 

As soon as I reach the penthouse I go towards my room to change into some workout clothes registering that Noah is in the kitchen while Ares is nowhere to be seen. After changing I go back downstairs and into the kitchen, "Can we start?" I ask Noah and he turns to look at me before nodding. "Sure. Why don't you start with the machines? I'll just finish making lunch and come upstairs." Noah tells me. "Okay," I reply before going to the training room and start with the machines. About half an hour later Noah comes up and we start sparring. As I'm about to deliver the last hit which would lead to me winning I feel dizzy and stop my movements. I feel Noah's hands hold onto me as my vision starts to clear again. "I'm fine," I say as I gain control over myself again. "No, you're not. What happened?" Noah asks me while holding me in place. "It's nothing. I don't know what happened. Let's start again." I tell him but he doesn't let go instead holds on tighter. "No. You have to talk Elle. You're not okay and you need to talk instead of just bottling up everything. You're just hurting yourself. Please, Elle." Noah pleads. "I'm fine. I don't want to or need to talk." I tell him while starting towards the door. Noah follows me as I go downstairs and hopefully out of here and back home. 

I reach the elevator and press the button. The elevator opens and Ares steps out, "What's the matter?" He asks as he stands beside Noah. "Nothing, I was just leaving," I tell him. "She's avoiding again, no surprise there. But this time she's actually running away, I mean it's one thing to avoid a problem but running away that's a whole new level of being a coward." Noah tells Ares. "You can't just... you don't know anything Noah. I'll see you later." I tell them but Ares uses his magic and the elevator disappears. "No Elle, we've given you time but not anymore. All you do is bottle up everything and don't think we haven't noticed your little episodes. If it wasn't for Noah you would've cut your hand that day. You keep getting dizzy spells and don't nearly eat enough. Enough is enough, this is self-destructive." Ares says and I close my eyes knowing they aren't giving up. "And you are right we don't understand or know what you went through or what you feel. But if you don't trust us enough to talk to us we won't be able to help you. Please, Elle, we won't be able to ever know what you feel but we want to help. Just talk to us." Noah pleads again. "Its nothing. Nothing happened, I'm just... it startled me. I'm fine, just please stop." I tell them, keeping my eyes shut tightly knowing I would probably break down if I look at them again. "It wasn't nothing, Elle, since it's clearly taking a toll on you. You don't even have to tell us what happened, just tell us how you feel, tell us how to help you because we feel so helpless right now Elle. We feel helpless knowing you're hurting but having no idea how to help, how to make it better. So please tell us what to do." Ares begs and I open my eyes to look at him. They're both staring me and I hesitate before hugging Ares and actually crying on my accord in the past two weeks. Ares hugs back and I feel Noah wrap his arms around both of us. 

After a while of just crying I start, "I don't how I feel, sometimes I just feel like everything is going to be fine but at other times I feel like my whole world is crashing and all I can do is stare. That day I felt so helpless, I thought I was... that I could defend myself but my brain just scattered and then it was like my mind went haywire and my thoughts were screaming and I had just grown deaf to them. When I did get back to my senses I couldn't... I just couldn't get the feeling of his hands and his lips and his voice out of my mind. I can't sleep because every time I do I'm back there again just as helpless and scared and trapped. It's like I'm constantly trapped in own my mind and no matter how hard I fight I'll never win. It's like my own mind is my enemy whenever I try to do something my thoughts go back and I'm trapped again. No matter what I do my mind is my own demon, if I'm walking towards the academy the thought of how easy it would be to sidestep onto the rushing traffic is always there when I'm cooking the thought of how easy it would be to take the knife and end everything is always there. I feel like my life is in a constant loop. I don't know what to do. I don't want to feel this any of it, I don't want to be scared. I don't want to feel trapped or defenseless anymore. Please help me." I beg them not bothering to stop my tears. They both hold on tighter. After my tears stop I pull away to look at them. Instead of looking at me with pity they are both smiling as tough proud of me. "Why are looking at me like that?" I ask them a bit weirded out and too tired to think as I feel a headache come on due to the crying. "Oh, it's nothing. We're just very proud of you. We know its probably hard to talk about what happened or about what you feel." Ares says his smile widening. "We'll help you in any way we can Elle. We'll always be here. We'll make sure you never feel weak or defenseless ever again Elle. Everything will get better." Noah promises. I smile just a bit. "We're going to move you in here. No way are you living alone in that apartment. Clear?" Ares asks. "Crystal," I answer him. "All right let's get some food in you before you faint," Noah says. "Actually that would be because of my nightmares and sleepless nights," I tell him. He just sighs and gestures towards the kitchen. I walk there and sit down. "Was it... was it my fault?" I ask the question that had bugging me the most. Both of them turn to face me so fast I'm surprised they didn't break their necks. Ares sits down next to me, "You don't really think that do you?" Ares asks. "Sometimes, I don't know; it's something that's been on my mind," I tell him. "No Elle it wasn't your fault. It was his and only his. Never think that." Ares tells me. I nod a bit, he hugs me and I hug him back. Noah serves us lunch and we all eat in silence.

"Did you tell your brother and friends?" Noah questions suddenly. I stop my movements and shake my head no. "Why not Elle?" Ares asks. "I wanted to. It's just they haven't been answering my calls or texts or voicemails or e-mails or anything really. I have a feeling it's my sisters doing." I tell them. They both give me a sad smile. "Don't worry too much. You'll always have us." Ares assures me and I smile at him. He smiles back widely since I haven't talked or smiled at him in the past two weeks. "Will you teach me how to use magic?" I ask them both after we're done eating and are cleaning up. "If you want to learn Elle, then we'll definitely teach you," Noah promises. After cleaning up the kitchen they tell me to wait in the training room while they go towards their room. I go and lie down on the mat and close my eyes for a bit. I sit up as I hear footsteps. Ares and Noah come in and sit in front of me. Noah has a book in hand and Ares has a locket? I think. "Here," Ares says and hands me the locket. I look at him questioningly. "It's a talisman, a very powerful one. It will help you to do powerful spells. Let me put it on." Ares elaborates. I nod and let him put it on. "Alright, we'll start with a basic spell. An aneurysm is a pain infliction spell. It's useful to disable supernatural beings with fast healing and can stun humans. Let's start." Noah instructs me. I try at first but nothing happens I just feel like I'm being drained. 

Three hours later I'm lying with my head in Ares's lap as he massages my head in a soothing way. We're still in the training room and I have failed at even causing a sting. "I'm not going to be able to do a spell. I feel like all energy has been drained from me and I didn't even successfully perform the spell." I complain to Ares and Noah. "Its fine Elle, it was your first time trying a spell. Don't worry you'll get better the more you practice." Ares assures me and Noah hums in agreement. "If you say so," I reply not really convinced. "I have an idea." Ares's voice snaps me out of my nap. "I can already tell this is going to be a disaster," Noah says with amusement and I agree with him in my head. "Shush Noah. We should get you a makeover. A new haircut, maybe highlights, new style, you know make a new you." Ares suggests. "Why?" I ask him as I sit up while touching my hair which I hate cutting for some reason. "To help you move on and start over," Ares says with a wide smile. "Umm... that only happens in movies, Ares. How in the world will a haircut help me move on?" I ask Ares while glancing at Noah who shrugs his shoulder. "I agree with Elle, Ares. I don't see how changing her hair or her clothing will help in any way." Noah admits. "Don't be such party poppers. It's worth a try. What's the worst that could happen?" Ares questions. "Well I could lose myself totally in trying to move on," I inform Ares. "Don't be such a drama queen Elle. Please, let's go." Ares pleads. I groan as he gives me a sad pleading look. I look towards Noah in hopes of getting his help but he's already looking towards Ares with worry and he'll agree soon enough. 3. 2. 1..."Okay, let's go." Noah agrees and I stand up since there's no way I'm winning now. "Fine let's get this over with." I agree and Ares cheers while dragging me towards my room and instructing me to change. I wear the clothes I had worn to the academy earlier.

After I'm done I go down to see Ares already there but no Noah. He's probably changing too. "Alright let's go," Noah says as he comes down and we leave. As Noah starts to drive I drift off to sleep. I snap my eyes open already feeling tears streaming down as I try to control my breathing when I feel a hand on my knee and jump back in fright. "Elle?" I hear Ares's voice penetrate the static that has been ringing in my ears. I look up to see that we're parked on the side of the road as Ares sits beside me and Noah had his body turned to look at me. "I'm fine," I tell them as lean into Ares. "If you say so." I hear Noah say and the car starts. "Do you want to sleep? It's a long way there." Ares questions. "I don't think I can sleep," I tell him while looking out the window. "Don't worry about having a nightmare. I'll make sure it doesn't happen. Come on go back to sleep you need it." Ares coaxes me. I nod trusting him to keep the nightmares away. I lean back into him. "Thanks, Ares," I tell him and before I know it I'm drifting back to sleep. I wake up to someone shaking my shoulders and whispering my name instead of waking up in sweat and tears. I open my eyes to see Ares in front of me. I remember us leaving to get me a makeover. "Hey. So we reached?" I ask him. "Yeah come on. You can sleep some more when we get back." Ares tells me and we get out of the car. I look around to see we're at one of those very huge and very expensive looking salons. The one where you can get anything and everything done. Of course, we are here it was Ares's idea, so we obviously will be somewhere like this. "Come on Noah's waiting inside. I already thought of what we will get done." Ares informs me as he drags me towards the entrance.

After meeting up with Noah I am led to a chair and the mirror in front is covered so I can't see what's being done. It's obvious that the stylist has been informed already as he gathers everything he'll need and the color is somewhere in there. Great. The stylist first washes my hair before starting to cut my hair not too short thankfully but I still mourn the loss. After being done with the cut he starts dyeing my hair. After my hair is done messing with I'm led to a different area to get my nails done. What in the world has Ares planned? I go there to see Noah and Ares already sitting there. I'm not really shocked to see Ares but Noah surprises me, Ares probably forced him. "Oh, Elle you look amazing." Ares compliments but I just glare a bit salty at not being allowed to see my look at yet. I sit down and the lady in front of me starts to do my nails. I was finally done after almost 5 hours. "I hope you like it, Elle," Ares says sounding a bit nervous. "I'm sure I'll love it, Ares. I trust your choice." I assure him. He smiles slightly before pulling the cloth down from the mirror to show my reflection. For a minute I just stare too mesmerized by my new look before smiling and hugging Ares. "I love it, Ares," I tell him before pulling away and kissing his cheek. He smiles back brightly at me so does Noah and I turn back to look closer at my new hair. It was still dark at the roots but as it fell down it was blonde. It reached down till my ribs. After admiring my hair I look down towards my nails which were painted matte black but the ring and middle finger had silver glitter on them. I loved it. I hug Ares again and thank both the stylists. As we sit in the car Ares shows me his nails which were painted a dark night sky blue and had little silver stars. He had made Noah get the same but the base was a proper black unlike Ares's. I thought it was really cute that even though Noah was complaining about how the nail art made him seem weak he didn't dare try taking it off. "Okay, now new clothes." Ares declares as we stop in front of a mall, a very huge mall. "No Ares, please. I want to sleep." I beg him and give him my best pleading smile and eyes and he almost falls for it but snaps out of it and drags me out. I sigh and let him drag me. 

After 3 hours of constant torture, we finally go back to the penthouse after getting some take out on the way home since Noah was tired too. Ares has forced me to buy a variety of jeans, skirts, shorts, etc. He also bought me some art supplies. Ares had promised to let me go to the apartment tomorrow so I could get all the things I wanted. Noah puts on a movie as we all sit down to eat. We eat in silence as I check my phone to see there were still no replies from anyone. I was getting worried since something could be wrong, considering all the supernatural surrounding the town. As the credits roll, I realize I didn't even know what the movie was about. "You alright?" Noah questions from beside. "Huh. Yeah, just worried about my friends and family. Mystic Falls is like a danger magnet or something." I tell him leaning towards him a bit, he wraps his arm around me. "Don't worry too much. Only 3 more weeks then you can go back and pester them." He assures me. "Right. Sounds fun. If their reasons are lame I am going to kill them. Can we go somewhere for the weekend? I've been here for over a month now and I haven't seen much." I ask them and Ares smiles brightly and I know he already has a bizarre idea in his mind. "We could to The Hamptons for a relaxing weekend filled with beaches and cocktails," Ares suggests with a blissful sigh already imagining the weekend. "I thought Hamptons was a made-up place in Gossip Girl," I say a little confused, I really shouldn't assume things like that. "No it's not made up," Noah tells me with a laugh. "So it's really a place where rich people go for vacations? Is Gossip Girl real too? Because that would make my day." I ask them. They both laugh lightly. "Yes and no. Yes, The Hamptons really is a place where rich people go for vacations and no Gossip Girl is not real. And we are going." Ares tells me. "Sure. Beaches and cocktails sound great." I agree since it would be a nice change. 

After some time of just sitting around watching the next movie start, I decide to go to sleep since I have class tomorrow again. "Hey guys, I'm going to go to sleep. Goodnight." I tell them and get up stretching a bit before hugging both of them. "Wait," Noah says after pulling away. "Yeah?" I ask him. "We have something for you. Here." Ares says handing me a charm bracelet. As I look closely I see it's Beauty And The Beast themed and I smile widely at them."Why this? You already bought me half a mall. Not that in complaining I love it." I say a bit sarcastically since Ares insisted on paying for everything and Noah agreed not that I could afford everything they bought me, I'd probably go bankrupt. "It's spelled. It will keep your nightmares away and also make sure you don't have any episodes, Elle." Noah explains and I smile gratefully. "I didn't know there were spells for things like that," I tell them a little lost. "There aren't. But when you live long enough and are as powerful as we are you can make your own spells." Noah explains and I nod my head since someone would obviously have had to create spells that witches use today. "Thanks. You both have done so much for me." I say and smile at them. "It's nothing, Elle. You're family now." Ares affirms and Noah nods agreeing. I smile at them while thinking yeah you're too just not having the courage to say it out loud. I smile at them one last time and head back to my room. I change into some comfortable clothes to sleep in before grabbing my phone. I dial Jer's number and wait as it rings only to end up with voicemail.

"Hey Jer, I don't know why you aren't answering my calls or texts but I'm really worried. I don't know if I did something wrong, but if I did I'm sorry, please just call me back or text me. Please. I just want to know you're okay, so, please. And if you're mad just call to scream at me or anything just... just don't ignore me. I... something happened and I really need to talk to you. I'm scared and tired and I really need your help. Please, Jer. I love you." I say leaving a voicemail my voice cracking and tears falling down my face. I get up and wash my face before tying my hair up and taking deep breaths. Everything's fine I'm just overthinking. I keep repeating to myself before sighing and going back to my room, I put all the bags in the walk-in closet to organize tomorrow before repacking my bag since I have full intentions of getting a good night's sleep and a possible late morning. I change my alarm to 6:30 before shutting off the lights and getting into the bed. As I close my eyes my phone pings and I check to see it's Ares. 

Ares😍  
If you need anything don't hesitate to wake us. Goodnight Elle.

Elle❤️  
Thanks, Ares. I will. Goodnight.

I text him back before letting my eyes close and sleep consume me.


	11. Chapter 9 - The Hamptons Part 1

THE WEEKEND

I wake up to someone knocking on the door, probably Ares. "I'm up," I shout at him but he keeps knocking and I realize that the spell is activated and he can't hear me. I groan before getting up and opening the door. "I'm up Ares. What's the hurry?" I ask as I go back and sit on the bed. "We're going to The Hamptons. Get ready, I'll pick out your clothes." Ares says excitedly while going towards the closet. "Okay. No dresses." I shout as I go towards the bathroom and hear Ares groan. I take a quick shower knowing Ares will get impatient, he's been jumping about the whole week excited for the weekend. I step out to see and an all-white outfit. There's white jeans and a white sweater and brown boots. I'm thankful for the sweater since it's a bit cold outside and now that I think about it a beach in cold weather is a really bad idea but oh well. I change into my clothes and comb my hair putting it into a ponytail before heading downstairs. I go to the kitchen to see Noah cooking breakfast. "Good morning." I greet him with a hug, which he returns. "Good morning. I'm surprised you're in a good mood seeing as Ares was banging on your door." Noah says. "Well we're going away for the weekend so I'm very excited and there's no use in being grumpy and ruining the mood," I tell him while making coffee for us. "Fair enough," Noah says. "How long does it take to reach Hamptons?" I ask him since I wanted to get some sleep so that I'm not tired when we reach. "Around 2 hours or so depending on the traffic," Noah informs me and I nod. We both sit down to eat and Ares joins us soon. After eating we cleaned up and went to get our bags. I go up to my room and take the bag I packed yesterday, checking to make sure everything is in there. I close my bag after putting my sketchbook and go downstairs. 

Since Ares and Noah aren't there yet I sit down on the couch to read a book. Ares got me a new book since I finished The Maze Runner Trilogy, it's a sort of love story. It's called 'Where Rainbows End' and even though I didn't think I would like it I'm currently rereading it. After a few minutes, Noah comes down and gestures me to follow him. We go down the elevator to the parking and walk to their car and put the bags in the back. "You okay? With... well everything." Noah asks as we arrange the bags and wait for Ares. "Yeah, I guess. I mean I'm still too much of a coward to tell my friends or my brother about what happened but at least we're talking again. If you are asking about the Jason thing then I guess I'm doing better. I took off the bracelet last night and I'm not going to wear it for this trip. I want to know if I'm actually moving on or just avoiding it." I tell him. Noah looks at me for a few seconds before asking, "You sure that's a good idea? I mean we do want you to move on from what happened but not like this it's a risk." Noah says a little worried. "I know but you and Ares will be there and I trust you. I also didn't have any nightmares last night so that's good I think. I don't think there will be any episodes. I only had them because of the realization that... that not only could Jason have used me but he could have killed me and that scared me but this week with you and Ares and nightmare free days and nights I came to realize that it won't happen now because Jason's dead and I... I survived. I think that this will work, I want to look back at what happened and be proud of myself for surviving not ashamed or scared of what Jason did. Does that make sense?" I say ending with a question. "Yeah, it does. And you should be proud Elle not only for conquering your demons but also because you seem to have accepted it was not your fault. I've seen so many women destroy themself due to a man's fault over the centuries and I'm proud to see that you aren't doing that." Noah says with a grin. I smile back at him and we sit in the car to wait for Ares.

After about 15 minutes Ares comes and sits in the car. "Sorry, I know I'm late. I had to attend an important call." Ares explains. Noah smiles at Ares and we leave. "What are we going to do there? Do you have a plan or...?" I ask them mostly Ares though. "Well today we're going to the beach after lunch, we can go jet skiing and then to our favorite restaurant there for dinner. Tomorrow we have to go to a meet of sorts, it will start around noon and will go on till 5 then we can either go scuba diving or just laze around at the beach." Ares informs. "Uh... jet ski and scuba diving? I don't think I'll be able to do either of those." I tell Ares, "What? Why? Come on its fun." Ares insists. "I know but I am scared of deep waters and well drowning," I whisper but it's loud enough for them to hear. "Well don't worry even if you do drown you'll just come back to life just with a little more powers," Noah says with a laugh. I glare at him and recite the aneurysm spell in my head until Noah winces. "Ow. What the hell? Seriously Ares?" Noah screams. "It was me actually and yes seriously," I tell Noah before sitting back in my seat. "You did that?" Ares asks. "Well you didn't and Noah obviously didn't do it to himself. So..." I trail off. "Well done. It takes a lot to actually give someone as old as Noah an aneurysm. Have you been practicing?" Ares asks and compliments. "Uh yeah, a bit. I have also tried a few other spells. I also discovered that holding the talisman in my hand helps." I tell Ares and he gives me a smile. 

I sit back and relax trying to get some sleep before reaching so that I can keep up with Ares's plans. After a few minutes, I almost fall asleep but my phone rings. Ugh. I take it out of my pocket to see its Jeremy. I answer it. "Hey Jer," I say as soon the phone reaches my ear. "Hey, Elle." He greets and I can hear a little guilt in his voice. "Are you okay? Everything's fine there right?" I ask him a little worried. "I'm fine. But things aren't that great here. There are so many new vampires in town. I was also worried if you actually forgave me for ignoring you for two weeks?" Jer asks. "Yeah, I forgave you Jer and the others. You all had valid reasons, well your reason was a bit stupid but still. I get it. You didn't want me to worry about what was happening there." I tell him truthfully. "Thanks, Elle. So you talked to everyone?" Jer says. "Yeah. Care was just busy with Miss Mystic Falls which is understandable. She really wants to win so... As for Ty and Matt, they both have to deal with their abusive parents, so I guess I understand. I just wish I was there to help." I tell him. "See that's why we were avoiding you because you love worrying about things. You should be enjoying your time in New York not worrying about us." Jer tells me. "Hey, that's not fully true. I'm actually on my way to The Hamptons for a fun weekend." I tell Jer." That's a real place? Good to know. I'm glad, have fun there. I'll call you later? I have to go back to class now." Jer says. "What class?" I ask him. "Well, I decided to start self-defense classes like you. I know I probably won't last very long against a vampire but you know..." Jer trails off. "Yeah, I know. You just don't want to feel weak." I whisper to him. "Yeah." Jer agrees. "Call me when you can. I love you Jer." I tell him. "I will Elle. I'll call you soon. Love you too Elle." He replies and we cut the call. I smile and look forward.

Noah and Ares are both staring at me well Noah occasionally looks to the front but still. "What?" I ask them. "You didn't tell him. You could've." Ares states. "I know. I just chickened out again and I don't know. He's already worried about the things there, I don't want to add on my problems." I explain to Ares. "It's your decision, Elle. Get some sleep." Noah says. I nod my head and try to sleep. I wake up to a still moving and some peaceful music on the radio. "We aren't there yet?" I ask Noah. "Almost. It will take another half an hour it seems." Noah informs me looking at the traffic ahead. "Where exactly are we going in Hamptons? And where are we going to stay? In a hotel or?" I ask Ares. "We're going to a small village on East Hampton called Sag Harbor. We will be living in our house there. We like to have a few relaxing weeks sometimes." Ares informs me. "Your house? Is it a three-story mansion?" I ask them. "It's two-story. Anyways why do you insist we have a three-story mansion?" Noah asks. "I don't know. I just imagined you having a three-story mansion when we first met. So this meet of yours is it in Sag Harbor too?" I ask Ares. "No, it's an hour away from Sag Harbor in Greenport. So we're going to have to leave around 10:30 tomorrow." Ares explains. "So can I sit that out or are you going to force me to dress up and go?" I ask Ares and he smiles which is enough of an answer.

We reach soon enough and I'm stunned to see the amazing mansion. It was themed black and white. It wasn't too big or small. There is a black garage on the left side of the house. Next to the garage a little further back steps leading to the main door which was full glass. Next to the door a whole white accent wall and next to that a black wall with two windows. I walk in after Ares unlocks the door. As soon as we enter there is the living room. It's open with one wall all glass windows. It has an L-shaped couch and a small fireplace? that's what it looks like. To the right is the kitchen and dining table, to the left there are stairs. A little to the right of the kitchen there seems to be a study. I go and lie down on the couch and soon both Noah and Ares join me. "Can we practice until lunch?" I ask Noah. "No. This weekend is for rest, which means no training. Physical or otherwise." Noah practically orders. "Fine. Then what are we doing till lunch then?" I ask them. "We could start making lunch since it's already 11. Then unpack and change before leaving for the beach." Ares suggests. "Okay." Noah agrees. "Fine but I'm not changing," I tell Ares. I get up to walk to the kitchen but Ares stands in front of me and glares. "Yes, you are changing. I got you a really great bikini. Please." Ares pleads. "Ares I don't really like wearing anything that exposing. Well unless I'm forced by people like Care and now you as well. Please don't make me. Besides aren't we going jet skiing? I'll just wear shorts and a loose tee or something. Please." I beg Ares. I just don't feel comfortable in my own skin anymore. Not like I used to, I didn't really mind bikinis at all. "Okay. If you don't want to I won't force you." Ares gives in and kisses my head. "Thanks, Ares," I whisper to him. 

As I enter I see Noah already pulling out ingredients. "What are we making?" I ask him while rolling my sleeves up since the sweater is white I didn't want it spoilt. "I was thinking of a 3-course lunch, cause well we have a lot of time. Hot and sour soup, ratatouille and mocha pots. What do you think?" Noah asks. "Sure. I don't know what mocha pots are and I have tried ratatouille once but didn't turn out well. So I'll help. Be your sous chef." I tell Noah. "No problem. Let's start." Noah says. Since Ares couldn't cook at all, he sat at the dining table working on something. Probably what he's going to make us wear tomorrow. After being done with all three dishes we put the mocha pots in the refrigerator to cool. Ares sets up the table and we sit down for lunch. "You know we should cook together more often. It's fun working with you." Noah tells me. "Yeah, it is fun. We should definitely do this more. I love learning new recipes anyways." I smile at Noah. We start eating and Ares compliments us on our food. The whole meal was really amazing. We cleanup and Noah and Ares show me to 'my room' and I start to unpack, even though there isn't much since it's only a two-day trip. After unpacking I change into some faded blue-grey shorts and a white loose shirt. I take some off white flip flops that I packed and put them on. Not bothering to grab any bag or wallet I put my phone in the shorts pocket and comb my hair before putting it into a bun. After a little thought, I take my Polaroid and the small bag I bought specifically for it. I head towards the balcony door I saw while coming upstairs and find a beautiful view of the ocean. The balcony is beautiful and themed black and white like the rest of the house. There are some chairs and sofas and a small table on the balcony and has glass railings. I stand over the railing enjoying the change in scenery and a little rest. "Ready to go?" I hear Noah's voice ask me and turn my head towards him. "Yeah let's go," I tell him and we head downstairs.

We reach the beach which is not too crowded and not too loud. "So what now? I mean we should wait at least half an hour more before skiing to avoid sickness. Or well at least I should." I tell Ares. Since we had a big lunch it's probably best to be safe, I'd rather not embarrass myself in front of rich people. "No, you're right. Let's find somewhere to sit." Ares suggests. We go to the far end and sit on the lounge chairs already there. I take out my camera and start clicking pictures. I take a snap of the water then some kids playing on the sand and then a few of Noah and Ares. "What do you think about him?" Ares asks me pointing towards some guy, some very handsome guy. "I think that you shouldn't be staring at other men while your husband is sitting right next to you. Also, he looks nice." I tell Ares. "Don't worry sweetie, I'm not interested it's for you." Ares smiles cheekily at me. "No thanks. I am fine being single it's fun and stress-free. Besides I'm starting to think dating isn't for me." I tell Ares honestly. "Why?" Noah asks. "Oh, right I didn't tell you guys. In short. My first crush had a crush on my sister and on her orders dated me just so that he and Elena could humiliate me in front of the whole school and then my second... something I wouldn't call him a crush though, dated me even though he was in love with my sister. It ended with him kissing her and my faith in boys dwindling. So there." I explain to them. They both look at each other then towards me. "Well those boys were idiots. And you don't have good luck with males huh?" Ares asks. "That's not fully true. I have you guys, my brother, and my best friends so it's just my love life I guess." I inform them and they both nod and smile.

"Come on let's watch that woman ski, it might help your fear," Ares suggests. "How exactly would that help? And you guys should do it, I don't think I am going to." I inform them while backing up. "Oh no, you're not getting out of this. You should conquer your fears. It will be fun and we'll never let anything happen to you." Noah assures me. "Fine. And I guess you are right. I should get over my fears." I agree and we go towards the jet ski rental and watch as a woman sits on a jet ski and races away. I feel a bit better but then she falls into the water. "Yeah, I'm definitely not doing that," I tell them and they both give me a look. "Don't look at me like that. I don't know how to swim, I'll drown. And as much as I trust you my fear overpowers the trust." I inform them. "Come on Elle. How about this? I'll ride with you. Okay?" Noah asks. Conquer fear and die or be a coward. "If I die I'll kill both of you," I tell them and they both smile. I sit on the ski and Noah sits behind me, holding onto me. "Ready?" Ares asks from beside me. "I don't think I ever will be. Let's go." I say and we both take off. I don't race too fast but soon gain confidence due to Noah's assuring words and the stability of the jet ski and race a bit faster. We go back to the shore once our time is over. "That was amazing. I'm glad I did it." I tell Ares and Noah as we go back towards where we were sitting before. "It really was. Does this mean you'll try scuba diving tomorrow?" Ares asks and I smile and nod. "Definitely. It might take me some time though to control my breathing and not get a panic attack just thinking about water." I explain to them. "Of course. What do you want to do for now?" Noah asks. "I don't know. What else can we do?" I ask them. "We could get an early dinner and then go to one of the nightclubs. It would be fun and we haven't gone to a club in a while." Ares suggests. "Well I don't really want to go to a club, so we could eat then you guys could go to the club and I was thinking about starting my assignment," I inform them. "Are you sure? And what's the assignment?" Ares asks. "Yeah, I'm sure. And my assignment is to paint something relating to nature. It doesn't matter what, it can be a tree or mountain or anything. I was thinking about maybe walking around a bit to see if I find anything inspiring. If I find something I'll take a Polaroid and then copy from it. What do you think?" I ask since they get worried easily. "Sounds perfect. But instead of you walking around cluelessly, we'll show you a meadow on our way to the restaurant. I'm sure you'll love it." Noah tells me. "Okay sure. Let's go." I agree. "First we're going back home so that Noah and I can change then we'll leave for the restaurant," Ares says. I just shrug and follow them back grateful for not having to change. 

I check my phone to see a message from Elena again and delete it without bothering to read. She's been trying to tell me about our real parents and I'm really not interested in knowing about them. I look around as we drive towards the restaurant. We pass by little shops and cafes before the landscape changes to farmlands. After a few minutes, the car stops and I look through the other window to see a beautiful meadow filled with all kinds of flowers of all colors. I take a few pictures and walk around to look closely at the flowers also taking a few close up pictures of the flowers I like. I walk back to the car where Noah and Ares are waiting leaning against the car. "Done. Let's go." I tell them and get in the car. We arrive at the restaurant in 15 more minutes. It's beautifully decorated, incorporating its Chinese menu and theme. We sit down and Noah orders for all us. He ordered Cream Cheese Wontons, Seafood Fried Rice and Moo Shu Pork. "You sure you don't want to come with us?" Ares asks me and I nod. "I'm sure Ares. You've known me long enough to know I'd rather not go to clubs if avoidable." I remind him. "Ares leave her be. She won't have time tomorrow so she should finish it tonight." Noah chides Ares. "Fine, he's right anyway." Ares reluctantly agrees. After a few minutes, our food arrives and we all eat in silence. After dinner we all get in the car, Noah and Ares will first drop me back home and then leave for the club. We reach back in 20 minutes. I get out of the car and so does Ares. "Ares I'll be fine. Go have fun." I insist. "I know. Just call if you need anything. Okay?" Ares asserts. "I will, promise," I assure him and give him a hug. "Bye. Have fun." I say as we pull back. "We will. Bye." Ares says and gets back in the car. I sigh and go into the house before heading towards my room. 

Ate changing into some PJs I sit down on the floor with my sketchbook and the Polaroid of the meadow. I decided to start with the sky then the small hills and then finally the meadow. I first sketch out the basic scenery very lightly with a pencil and then start. I finish painting the sky in half an hour struggling to give it the violet hue that I saw earlier. I then start the hills trying to give them the proper shade of green and blue-ish hue. It takes me an hour to finish the hills because I couldn't decide which green was better. I decide to take a break and go downstairs taking a bag of chips and a mocha pot we made earlier I go and sit down in the living room before starting the TV to watch the new episode of Supernatural. It's currently season 5 and the latest episode will be aired today and then directly in January. As the episode ends I feel a bit sad and reluctantly get up to finish my painting. I start the flowers which are going to take long since there are so many and they all need to be small which will make the detailing difficult. It takes me three hours to finish the flowers and now I'm staring at the painting actually contemplating starting a new one. I hear the front door open and take my painting to show Ares and Noah. I reach downstairs and they both are sitting on the sofa. "You guys okay?" I ask as I come to stand in front of them. "Yeah, we're fine. Is your assignment done?" Noah asks. "Yeah, I wanted to show it to you guys. Here." I say and hand them my book. "It looks amazing." Noah compliments and I smile a bit before looking towards Ares. "It looks great sweetheart. Nice job." Ares says and gives me a hug. "Thank god. I'm too tired to start anew." I tell them. "Don't worry it's quite nice. You don't have to make a new one." Ares tells me. "You guys have fun?" I ask them. "Yeah. A bit." Noah says. "Well, I'm going to sleep. See you guys tomorrow. Goodnight." I tell them and give them both a hug. They wish me goodnight too and I head back upstairs, keep my sketchbook on the table and fall into my bed. I soon feel exhaustion taking over.


	12. Chapter 10 - The Hamptons Part 2

I wake up to the sun shining through the window. I sit up to see a beautiful sunrise through the large windows and I watch till the sun starts to burn my eyes. Guess I'm up early. I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth I fix my hair into a bun and head downstairs. I reach the living room and go towards the kitchen. Since neither Ares nor Noah are up I decide to make breakfast for all of us knowing that they will wake up soon enough. I decide to make a ham and cheese omelet. I take out ask the necessary ingredients and put the skillet pan to heat. After whisking eggs and milk I add ham, onions, and pepper. I put a little of the mixture in the skillet pan and cover it before starting the coffee. After that, I make two more omelets and add grated cheese on half of it before folding them and pouring coffee. As if on cue both Ares and Noah walk into the kitchen. "Good morning. Have a seat I made breakfast." I greet them. "Smells amazing. What kind is it?" Noah asks. "Shouldn't you be able to tell?" I say a bit mockingly. "I happen to be a chef, not a dog. Now, will you tell me?" Noah answers sarcastically. "It's ham and cheese omelet. I tried to make us lattes but I don't think that's what I ended up with." I tell them. "It's fine Elle. Why are you up so early anyway?" Ares asks. "I don't know I just woke up and saw this beautiful sunrise and decided to go with it," I tell him. He nods and we start to eat.

After eating we all clean up and Ares orders me to take a long nice bath and that he'll set out a dress for me. I do as told since the bathtub is huge and I plan to make the most of it. I start hot water tap before setting all the things I wanted by the edge. I put on some music and get in the tub. After a nice bath, I get out putting on a robe before entering the bedroom seeing all the curtains pulled. I feel a bit better even though no one lives nearby. I see a dress on the bed and put it on before looking closely at the dress in the mirror. It was white and reached above my knees and had black embroidery on it. I go towards Noah and Ares's room and knock. "Hey, you look amazing Elle." Noah compliments as he opens the door. "Why don't I believe you?" I ask him teasingly. "He isn't wrong you know. You look amazing." Ares tells me while giving me a hug and a kiss on my forehead. "Thanks. Both of you. You guys don't look bad either. Is white the theme or?" I ask seeing as both of them were wearing white suits. "Yes, it is, white and black." Ares answers. "Okay then," I say as I sit down and Ares starts my makeup. After all of us are ready we get in the car and leave for the 'meet' as Ares had called it. 

I check my phone to see yet another message from Elena. Should I block her? She sends another message and I block her. Freedom. I look up to see Ares starting at me. "What?" I ask him. "You seem happier ever since your friends and brother started talking to you again." Ares states. "Well, they mean a lot to me. What's the 'meet' for anyways?" I ask him. "It's sort of a get-together." Ares answers and Noah laughs. "Please, Ares it's not a get-together. It's more like a kitty party for fashion designers where they gloat about their designs, success, better halves, etc. You're not going to enjoy this." Noah explains and I laugh a little at Ares's betrayed look. "It can't be worse than any founder's party I have attended before. I'm used to things like this." I tell Noah. "Founder's Party?" Ares asks. "Yeah. Every year in our town there is a founder's week which includes a party, a pageant, a parade and fireworks. I hate it. Every year me, Tyler and Matt would greet people, stay half an hour and then we would head to his room since he's the Mayor's son and the party would be at his house. Once in his room, we would play video games and eat snacks that we stored in his room the week before. Then half an hour before the party would end we would go back downstairs. Our parents knew but never said anything about it." I explain. "Well if you were upstairs half the time how would you know anything about the party?" Noah asks. "Trust me even an hour was hell. The meet sounds very similar to what happened at the parties. Parents would gloat about their children, all the ladies would show off their expensive jewelry, new dresses, etc. Ty has it worse, being the Mayor's son isn't easy." I tell Noah. "Well then you're ready for this party," Noah says as though it's the greatest thing. "Good to know," I reply to him. 

We reach in an hour and I get out to see we're in front of a hotel. A very big and expensive-looking hotel obviously. "Let's go, Elle," Ares says and holds out his hand I take it and he leads us to the door. After Ares gives his name and security check is done which includes wallets too. I thankfully didn't bring one filled with stakes. We go towards the banquet hall and I'm surprised to see many people already there. I thought people come late to parties for a melodramatic effect or something. Maybe we came late, before I can question Ares a woman comes and stands in front of us. "Oh, Ares it's wonderful seeing you again. I'm glad you could make it." The unknown lady greets Ares and they both do the weird hug and kiss the air thing where they don't even touch each other. I don't get the point of it. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, Natasha. Everything looks fabulous." Ares replies and I can tell he wants out already and so does Noah who seems to hate the lady. Wouldn't blame him she's staring at Ares like he's a piece of meat. "Oh forgive me, Noah, I didn't see you there. I'm glad you could make it as well. How are you? How's your little cafe, is it?" Natasha asks. I can feel annoyance come off in waves from Noah. I should not find this funny but I really am. "It's quite alright Natasha. I wouldn't blame you, it's bound to happen when you have such a handsome man always by your side." Noah replies while wrapping an arm around Ares's waist and kissing the side of his head. I bite my lip trying not to laugh. "As for the cafe, I would say it's doing quite well since it's a well-known Restaurant now with several branches all around the world. Thank you for asking." Noah tells her smugly and I end up laughing a bit. "Right, that's nice. Excuse me." Natasha says and leaves. I burst out laughing and Noah and Ares both smile at me. "What? That was awesome." I tell them. "Why thank you. Come on let's go get drinks. We are going to need those to survive this party." Noah says. 

After getting drinks, a non-alcoholic one for me, we stand near the bar since Ares keeps downing his drinks in one go. "Is he okay?" I ask Noah. "Yeah don't worry. You should get some too, alcohol I mean you're going need it trust me." Noah tells me. "I'm underage and no thanks. So now what?" I ask. "Now we wait for Ares then we walk around and socialize before having lunch; after which the host, Natasha will give a speech then we can leave," Noah informs me. "How long till lunch? How long will the speech be?" I ask him. "An hour till lunch and probably half an hour for the speech. It's her record. We should leave by 3 I think." Noah tells me. "Okay then sounds fun," I tell him. 

After a while of socializing, I lost Noah and Ares after I went to the restroom. I see Noah and go towards him. "I think we should leave," I tell him. "What? Why? I thought you had practice with this kind of stuff." Noah teases. "I do but I think I seriously pissed off a very famous fashion designer," I tell him. "Who and how?" Noah asks. "Oh see that woman talking to Natasha. I pissed her off. She said something along the lines that my dress could do better. I don't talk fashion designer but I know it was an insult so I said that her husband could do better. I don't even know if the guy was her husband. But she looked pissed." I rush out all the sentences. "She does have a husband and don't worry she's Ares's rival I'm sure he'll be more than pleased. And she's not that famous. Come on it's time for lunch." Noah assures me. "Okay, if you say so," I reply and we head towards where the lunch is going to be. The lunch is buffet style and filled with all kinds of cuisines. We sit to eat after getting a plate and Ares soon joins while looking oddly happy. I just focus on eating since I'm really hungry and it also means that I'm closer to leaving. After lunch, Natasha starts her speech like Noah had said. It can't be called a speech since all she's doing is bragging about everything. She finally ends her speech by thanking everyone for coming and I sigh in relief. I clap along with everyone I think most of them are as glad as I am about the speech ending. Everyone goes back to chatting amongst themselves. Seriously what a waste of time. And money. "Can we leave now?" I ask Ares as I turn to face him. "Yes, I'm just going to bid farewell to the hostess. It'll just take a few minutes." Ares assures. "We'll wait for you in the car. Okay?" Noah asks. "Sure." Ares agrees. "Finally," I say under my breathe and Noah chuckles. We leave and go towards the car. 

After 10 minutes Ares comes and we leave. "Alright. After we reach home we'll rest for an hour before going scuba diving." Ares announces. "Doesn't it take a little training beforehand to scuba dive? You also need to know how to swim. Right?" I ask them. "Well yes. Huh. I did not think about that." Ares mutters. "So... now what?" I ask. "Well we could go on a private cruise," Noah suggests. "What exactly does that include?" I ask Noah. "We rent a boat or a yacht and just go around to the places we want to see. They have many options like Sunset Beach, Shelter Island, etc. We can choose what all we want to see and what food we want. We get a Captain and crew along with the yacht so all we have to do is sit back and enjoy. What do you think?" Noah explains and asks. "Sure, sounds fun. Let's do it." I tell him and he smiles at me. "Alright then, a new plan we go back home, get a few hours of rest maybe 3 hours, pack our bags, change and leave for the cruise. Enjoy a few locations and dinner under the starlit sky before getting the car and driving back home since you have to go to the academy tomorrow. Okay?" Ares asks. "Okay." I agree and Noah nods too.

We get back to the house and go to our rooms. I change before lying in bed. I set an alarm for 2 hours and close my eyes in hopes of getting some sleep. I wake up to the ringing of my alarm and sit up before rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I get out of bed and go into the bathroom. I wash my face and dry it with a towel before going back into my room. I change into a black skirt, black leggings, a red wool shirt, and some boots. After changing I start packing my bag. Once I'm done with packing and checking everything I head downstairs to eat something and get a coffee. I walk into the living room to see Ares and Noah already there. "Hey, guys." I greet them as I move towards the kitchen. "Hey, Elle. All packed?" Ares asks. "Yeah. Coffee? And toast?" I ask. "Sure. We are leaving as soon as we are done eating. We will go to Long Island Aquarium then North Fork Wineries and end at Greenport Harbor where we will shop for someone before having a late dinner in the yacht." Noah declares. "Okay. Here." I say while handing him a coffee and toast. We all eat and then get our bags and put them in the car. Noah drives us towards the port from where we are going to leave for the cruise or tour. 

After we reach, Ares goes to arrange something while Noah and I get into the yacht which is very spacious and very luxurious. There's a white couch, a TV, a dining table, a small kitchen with two refrigerators and a lounge on deck to see the view. Ares joins us as Noah is pouring drinks for them. I swear they're both alcoholics. I sit in the lounge as the yacht starts and enjoy the view since my seat is far enough from the water for my comfort. "Enjoying?" Noah asks as he sits down next to me. "Yes. This was a great idea, better than scuba diving. Where's Ares?" I ask him. "Ares is taking to the chef about dinner." Noah answers. "I didn't know yacht rentals had chefs," I tell him confused. "They don't, we had it arranged. Compulsion, remember? You're leaving in two weeks." Noah says with sadness. "Yeah, I am. And you sound upset." I say teasingly. "I am. We already told you, you are our family now. Everything will be odd without you. I suppose I can't make you stay?" Noah says more like a question. "Unfortunately no. Trust me I would gladly live in New York, but my family needs me. I don't know what I'll do without you two. I'll miss you too Noah, I guess we did end up as friends in the end, barely took half a month." I tell Noah teasing a bit. "I told you we would be friends," Noah says back teasingly while wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I laugh along with him just as Ares comes and sits with us. 

We reach the Aquarium within half an hour. Noah gets our tickets and we go in. We first see the Amazon Rainforest Exhibit which is fascinating but at the same time creepy. It is filled with trees obviously but also a few animals and insects. It's also dark in there which gives it an eerie feeling. We then go towards the Birds Exhibit which has many different parrot species, it was a bit odd since the only birds there were parrots. Noah and I feed the birds but Ares refuses to. Some parrots even came on their own, all in all, it was fun. We then go to the Bugs and Butterfly Exhibit and there are more than 50 species of butterflies there at least according to the signboard. I see a few amazing butterflies and regret not getting my camera. We even see a transparent one, it was so beautiful. After that, we go to the Sea Lion Show and a show with a penguin where you take a picture with them which was fun. 

We then head back to the yacht, leaving for the winery. Ares sits beside me as we both just look at the vast Atlantic Ocean. At least I think it's the Atlantic Ocean, it should be. "I'll miss you once you're gone," Ares says suddenly and sadly. "I'll miss you too Ares. It'll be fine, we can talk and you can come to meet me sometimes at least until I finish high school." I assure him, well try to. I wrap my arms around him in a hug as he does the same. "I know. You'll be fine there won't you? With all the supernatural mess there is?" Ares asks. "I will. After all, I took training from the best, no one will be able to touch me." I say a bit less confident than I meant to sound. "I hope so. Just promise you'll call if you ever need help." Ares demands. "I promise," I say in a whisper. We don't talk the rest of the way but stay together. Once we reach North Fork Winery which takes half an hour we go on a tour with the owner of the vineyard. He tells us about the history of the place, the process for growing grapes and making of wine half of which I don't understand. We then go to the place where the wine is made and he shows us around before leading us to taste wine. He hands us all a glass and I take a sip after Ares gives me a look. It actually tastes a bit sweet but then the owner hands a different wine which is extremely bitter and to stop myself from throwing up I gulp down all the sweet wine. I hope I don't get drunk. Can people get drunk on wine? Before I can ask Ares and Noah move ahead with the owner and I follow. 

Finally, after Noah and Ares have tasted all the different wines which are a lot more than I expected. Well, I only thought there were two types of wines red and white but apparently not, there are about 10,000 according to the owner and Ares. Thank god he didn't make all the 10,000 types because that would have been painful and suspicious if you can get drunk on wine. As we sit down I ask Ares, "Can people get drunk on wine?" Ares gives me a look but answers. "Yes unless you're drinking non-alcoholic wine or eating something that will absorb it." Great. "Okay. How much longer? I'm hungry." I ask them. "It'll only take a few minutes to get to Greenport and then we can shop for a bit before dinner," Ares says and I know his type of shopping isn't actually for a bit at all. I turn my attention back to the sky where the sun has almost set. It looks amazing the whole sky is orange and purple. We reach Greenport in a few minutes and get off the yacht, reluctantly. We head towards the market and Noah and Ares start looking at the different shops occasionally stopping in front of a shop looking at it before moving forward. This goes on for some time before they finally enter a shop. I just walk around the shop not really paying much attention to things. Noah and Ares are already buying things, I don't know where they plan on putting those. 

To keep busy I start looking at the different brooches in the display. None of them seem nice enough but one just steaks my attention and no matter what I look at my attention is drawn towards it. It's a red poppy flower with the middle of it made of diamonds. "Excuse me, how much for the poopy flower one?" I ask the worker. "That would be $8, ma'am." The worker says. Well, that's great. "I'll take it," I say. What? I don't know why I want it, I just do. "Of course. I'll pack it for you." The worker says. I smile in response. He comes back with the packed brooch. "Thank you," I say while taking the brooch and handing him the money. He smiles before saying, "Thank you for shopping with us." I smile back and head towards Ares and Noah. "Please tell me you're almost done, I'm very hungry," I say as soon as I reach them. "Yes we are done and I am also very hungry, let's go." Ares agrees. We leave the shop and make our way back towards the yacht. Once we reach we sit down on the dining table where food is already laid out.

We start to eat everything the chef made which is mostly seafood. After eating we go back to the deck, I watch the starlit sky on the open ocean. We sit in silence all of us enjoying the view. We reach the port in an hour and get out before I remember that I left the brooch on the dining table. I go in and get it before joining Noah and Ares in the car. "Everything okay?" Noah asks as I sit in the car. "Yeah. I just forgot something." I assure him. "Well, what did you buy?" Ares asks. "Oh, I bought a brooch," I tell him while handing him the brooch. "It's beautiful. But why a poppy?" Ares asks. "I don't know actually. It just sort of called to me? Does that make any sense?" I ask. "It does oddly enough. Do you know what poppies symbolize?" Noah asks. "Uh yeah. Peace, sleep and death." I say a little unsure. "Right. Before wars poppies were used by humans to symbolize your kind. They kept peace in the world and bought death onto the monsters. That's why it draws you in, not only that poppies were used by your kind as an offering to the dead in their eternal sleep." Noah explains. "Wow. Good to know." I say before resting back in the seat. 

After a while, I can't keep my eyes open. "Thanks, I had fun this weekend," I tell Noah and Ares. "You have nothing to thank us for. We had fun too. Get some sleep Elle, you look tired. We'll wake you up when we reach home." Ares says. "I do have a lot to thank you both for but I'm too tired to argue. So I'm just going to sleep and we can argue tomorrow." I say before getting comfortable and closing my eyes. I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Ares. "Come on Elle we're home," Ares says before getting out of the car. I get out too and see that we're parked in front of the penthouse. We all drag ourselves up to our rooms before saying goodnight. I change into something more comfortable and tie my hair into a loose braid. I get into my bed and set an alarm for 6:30 before lying in bed and turning off the lights. As soon as I lie down I can feel sleep take over.


	13. Chapter 11 - The Last Day

I wake up to my alarm and groan in annoyance before remembering that today is the last day and there's only the certificate distribution ceremony at the academy. Why is it so early in the morning? To top it off Ares insisted on me getting all dressed up. It's not like I'm graduating. I get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I put on the Ares chose for me. It's a blue dress that ends above my knees along with a black long coat and knee-high black boots. There's a knock on my door and I go open to see Ares. "Hey, good morning." I greet him. "Good morning. You look wonderful. Let's start with the makeup." Ares compliments. "Okay. You guys are seriously going to come, aren't you?" I ask. "Yes, we are. You shouldn't be alone at such a proud moment." Ares says. "I just completed a course for which I'm getting a certificate for, it's not that big a deal," I inform him. "It is. You should be proud of everything you achieve no matter how little it is." Ares tells me. He then starts my makeup. First a little base then eyeshadow, which he does gold and blue. He finishes with a dark red lipstick. "Thanks. For being there. My dad was supposed to come along with Jer, we were going to spend the weekend here; see the monuments and everything. It means a lot to me." I tell Ares after he's done. "You're welcome. It means a lot to us too." Ares says. "You guys done? It's time to go." Noah says as he walks in. "Yeah let's go." I agree. "You look amazing by the way." Noah compliments and I smile in thanks.

We reach the academy within 5 minutes since we came in the car and Noah was the one driving. We get inside and go towards the hall where the ceremony will be held. We walk and sit in the front since Ares insisted, he wanted to take Polaroids. He is very serious about being proud of every achievement. "I think I'm going to have a panic attack," I say as we sit down. "It will be fine Elle. Just take deep breaths." Ares assures me. After a few minutes, the head of the Fine Arts department Mrs.Williams comes on stage and then the owner Mr.Miller joins her. Our teachers are already sitting in the front row. They start the ceremony by a speech from Mr.Miller who thanks all the parents and friends there for support before congratulating everyone on our achievement. After the speech, Mrs.Williams starts handing the certificates. As my name is called out I take a deep breath and walk onto the stage. Mr.Miller congratulates me and hands me the certificate. Noah and Ares clap loudly and Mr.Miller laughs a bit I smile apologetically. I get down from the stage and sit back in my seat. After everyone is given their certificates we leave and get in the car. "So where are we going?" I ask as we head in the opposite direction of the penthouse. "It's a surprise." Is all Ares says before turning on music.

After an hour of driving the car stops and we all get out. I see that we are standing in front of Broadway. "So we are here for a Broadway show?" I ask them. "No we're here for a marathon," Ares states like it's the most normal thing. "What?" I ask dumbfounded. We're here for a marathon? "Well it's your last day here so we thought we should celebrate and since you hate clubs, this was the best option," Noah tells me. "Thanks. What all are we going to see?" I ask Noah. "That you will have to wait and see," Noah replies. I huff but follow them in. We sit a few rows from the stage right in the middle of the row. I look around seeing the whole theatre empty. "Did you... you compelled the whole theatre for us?" I ask Noah. He smirks and nods. I sigh before relaxing back in my seat. After a few minutes music starts and I focus on the stage. As the music fades for the 'Phantom Of The Opera' I feel tears gather in my eyes but also fall in love with the story. The 'marathon' had started with 'Chicago' which I liked a bit but not as much as 'Phantom Of The Opera' which was second in the 'marathon'. "Come on its intermission. We'll get some lunch then come back." Noah tells me. "Okay. Let's go." I agree and we leave. We start walking towards someplace Ares loves.

We reach in a few minutes. It's a small bistro of sorts and we go in and sit down. Ares orders burgers because he claims they're the best thing. Our burgers arrive soon and even though Noah wouldn't admit it they were amazing. After paying for the lunch we leave to go back to the theatre for the rest of the marathon which included two more plays. We reach the theatre and sit back in our earlier seats. The music starts soon and I recognize it to be Aladdin. I smile excited to see it. The Beauty and The Beast music fades and I smile and turn to hug Ares. "Thank you," I whisper to him. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Come on let's go back home and we can have homemade dinner." Ares says. I laugh a little and nod. "Okay." I agree, once we get up I hug Noah and thank him. He doesn't say anything just hugs me back. "Let's go," Noah says pulling back and we leave the theatre. We get in the car and Ares drives back towards home. We reach a little later than expected because of the tremendous traffic. "Why don't you go change into something more comfortable? I'll come help you pack the last of your clothes ate I change too." Ares tells me. "Okay. Do you need help with dinner?" I ask Noah. "No. I got it." Noah tells me with a smile. I smile back and nod. I had towards my room.

I go into the bathroom take off all the makeup and tie up my hair into a bun. I then change into some shorts and a t-shirt. I go into my bedroom and take my suitcase along with another one since Ares insisted I take everything he bought me. I keep black leggings and a loose t-shirt along with boots for the flight home. There's a knock at my door and I go to open it. "Hey. I'm thinking of taking only a few dresses and keeping most here because well I only have two suitcases and I don't need that many dresses." I tell Ares as he comes in. I start taking the dresses I want to take and he starts folding them and putting them in. "That's fine. You're going to be fine right?" Ares asks sounding worried and sad. "I will. No worrying today. Okay?" I order him. "Okay, ma'am." Ares agrees. We both chuckle a little and continue packing. Ares takes a few dresses and makes a show of putting them into the suitcase. I just laugh and shake my head when he does so. After an hour we're done since I had packed some earlier in the week. We head downstairs after checking everything. "Hey." I greet as Ares and I walk in the kitchen. Ares and Noah get a little lost in their old world so I check the dinner and see that Noah has made Lasagna. I set up the dining table. "Guys? Dinners ready." I tell them after being done and they snap out of their little world. "Thank you, Elle," Noah says while kissing my cheek. "Anytime," I tell him. 

After dinner, we all go and sit in the living room. "You know I'd like to hear about this second boyfriend of yours," Ares tells me as we drink the Oreo milkshake that Noah made for us. "What about him?" I ask him. "Well, you only gave us a synopsis. We want to know how idiotic he truly was." Noah informs me. "Well, I kind of liked him since the first day we met which was in the cemetery. But in a few days, he was dating my sister. Then he turned out to be a vampire. He found out I knew about him, after that we worked together to get daylight rings and then he saved my friends' life. After that, we kissed and he told me he broke up with Elena. We went on a date and he told me that he didn't want Elena anymore and that he had no intention of hurting me. He missed our second date to console my sister for having vampire blood in her system. He tried to convince me that it wasn't like I thought but I broke up with him and he left to help her again. But he still comes the next day for my help to save Elena then tries to apologize but I sent him away, the same day I find them kissing. So that's that I guess." I explain to them. "Well he doesn't sound right for you anyway," Ares says after a few minutes of silence. "And who would be right for me?" I ask him. "Well someone who can see what you're worth for one and someone who can protect you. He needs our approval by the way whoever turns out to be." Ares informs me. "Okay. Whatever you want." I agree and after a while, we just watch a movie which is The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian. 

As it's revealed that Peter and Susan can't come back my phone rings. I see that Ty is calling me. "Hey, Ty." I greet as Ares lowers the TV volume. "Ari? He's gone." Ty says and I can hear the slightest of cracks in his voice. "What Ty? Who? Who's gone?" I ask him. "My dad Ari. There was a fire and he... he's gone." Ty tells me and I can tell he's crying. "It's okay Ty. I'll be there tomorrow. If you want I can leave in maybe an hour or two?" I ask him. "No, it's fine. Just promise you'll be here tomorrow." Ty says. "Promise. It's okay." I promise him. "Ari?" Ty asks sounding a little guilty. "Yeah? What's wrong?" I ask knowing it's not about his dad and that he probably doesn't want to talk about his dad on phone either. "Its Caroline. She's in the hospital." Ty informs me, he's about to add something else but stops. "What? What happened?" I ask him. Ty tries to calm me and I know he's lying but I know they'll all feel guilty if I hurry to get there. Besides my flights at 6 in the morning, I'll be home soon. I repeat that over in my head before assuring Ty I'll be there tomorrow and say goodbye. 

"Elle?" Ares asks after a few minutes and I wipe my tears and look over at him. "Do you want to leave now? I'm sure we can arrange something." Noah asks me. "You can?" I ask him. "Of course Elle, if you want to go," Ares assures me. "Okay. I want to go." I tell them. "Okay, we'll see what the earliest flight is and get you a seat. Just go get your bags okay?" Noah tells me. "Okay. I'll go get them." I tell him and go upstairs to my room to get my suitcases. I get my bags and go back into the living room to see Noah on the phone with someone. He cuts the call and looks at me. "I'm sorry Elle. There's no flight leaving tonight. It's a storm somewhere in between here and Virginia. I'm really sorry." Noah tells me sadly. "It's okay. It's not your fault. What about my morning flight tomorrow? Will that still go or not?" I ask him. "They expect it to clear in a few hours but they don't want to risk it tonight and about tomorrow's flight, they aren't too sure. It'll all depend on tomorrow's weather." Noah informs. "Oh. Thanks for trying." I tell him with a smile. He smiles back at me. "Why don't you go to sleep? We'll leave early tomorrow and see what happens. If nothing else we'll drive you home ourselves." Ares assures me. "Okay. Goodnight." I say and hug them both. "Goodnight Elle," Ares says and we go to our rooms. 

I text Jer, Matt and Ty telling them I'll be there tomorrow and text Aunt Jenna about picking me up from the airport before I turn off the lights and set an alarm for 4. Since the airport is at least an hour away we'll have to leave by 4:30 and hope that tomorrow's flights don't get canceled. I lie down in bed trying not to worry too much and try to get some sleep since I know it's going to be hectic in Mystic Falls. After a few minutes, I feel sleep taking over and close my eyes.


	14. Chapter 12 - See You Soon?

I wake up to my alarm and sit up for a few minutes before heading towards the bathroom. I start water to fill the tub before brushing my teeth. After taking a nice bath I put on my clothes and pull my hair into a bun. I go downstairs to see Ares sitting in the living room. "Good morning." I greet him. "Good morning Elle. Sleep okay?" He asks as I sit down next to him. "Yeah. I'm sorry I know I worried you last night." I tell him. "It's okay Elle. I can't believe you're really leaving." He says sadly. "Yeah me too." I agree. It felt like time had passed away very quickly. "Come on let's eat breakfast then we can leave," Ares tells me. "Okay. What's for breakfast?" I ask him. "No idea. Noah said he wanted to make you special goodbye breakfast." Ares informs me. I smile a bit. We enter the kitchen to see the dining table full of breakfast items. There's pancakes, waffles, omelets, coffee, and toast. "Good morning Elle. So what do you think?" Noah asks me a timidly. "Looks amazing Noah. Thank you." I tell him. "Great let's eat," Noah says and we all sit down.

After eating breakfast I help Noah clean the kitchen which took some time. Once we're done we head into the living room and take my suitcases before going down through the elevator. Ares already left to get the car out on the street. We reach the car and put the suitcases in the trunk. I sit in the back seat while Noah takes to drive. Ares puts on some soft music as we drive to the airport. I check my phone to see Aunt Jenna had replied saying she would be there. I look out the window wanting to remember New York. I couldn't believe I was leaving. There are so many people and cars on the street even though it's 4:30 in the morning. I sit back in the seat and close my eyes enjoying the music. In what seems like a few minutes the car slows down. I look to see that we're only a few minutes away from the airport. Soon we're parked and getting out of the car. We head towards the inquiry office. "I'll go see whether or not flights are going," Noah says and I nod, Ares and I go sit on the chairs near the office. "Don't worry I'm sure the flights are going by now," Ares assures me and I smile and nod.

After a few minutes, Noah comes back and smiles at me. "The flights are leaving just a few minutes late since all the schedules are a bit messed up. Come on you should go through the security and stuff if you don't miss your flight." Noah tells. We all walk towards the assembly point and stop. Noah could compel to let them come further but this was better. "Here," Ares says while handing me my bracelet. I had asked him to take off the spell since I hadn't had any nightmares or episodes. "I know you asked to remove the spell but I just made it stronger just in case. We won't be there to help you so..." Ares informs me. "Thanks," I say while holding my hand out for him to fasten it. I hug him feeling tears. "I'm going to miss you," I whisper. "I'll miss you too," Ares whispers back. After we pull back I hug. "Don't get into any trouble there. Be careful please." Noah says and I nod. "I will be. I'll miss you, Noah. Never thought I'd say that." I say a bit teasingly at the end while laughing a little. He chuckles weakly too. "I'll miss you too Elle," Noah says. We pull apart and I set down and open my suitcase to take out my gift. "I sort of have something for you both. I've had for some time but I kept postponing it because it made leaving too real. Guess I can't postpone it anymore." I say as I take the two canvasses out and handing one to both of them. During our New York tour, Ares had asked me if I would paint them and I had agreed. I started working on it two weeks ago after we came back from Sag Harbor. I found a picture of them in their room and made two different paintings. The first one was simple and almost like the picture but I made the second one different. "Do you guys like it?" I ask them after a few minutes. "They're amazing Elle," Ares tells me. "Yeah. I love this one." Noah agrees while showing me the painting. "I painted that after a girl in our class made a portrait of her mother in that theme," I tell him. The painting was made to make it seem like the whole painting was in a shade of blue along with having small lines and dots in silver which made it seem like it had stars and comets.

After I hug them both again I prepare to leave. "This isn't a goodbye right?" I ask them. "Of course not. We'll visit in a few weeks after we come back from Rome." Ares assures me. They were both going to Rome for some fashion thing. "Okay then. I guess it's see you soon?" I ask. "See you soon Elle. Call us if there are any problems." Noah says. "I will. I promise. Have fun in Rome." I say and I finally turn to head through security. After all the formalities are done I sit in my seat in the plane with my sketchbook and Zune player. I start drawing basic scenery to keep busy until the plane takes off. In a few minutes, the pilot announces that we're going to take off soon. I fasten my seatbelt and relax back in my seat. 

Soon enough we're in the air and I look out the window. New York looks beautiful from up high. I smile before plugging in my earphones and playing songs in my Zune. For a minute I feel sad about leaving New York before remembering that my friends and family need me. I sigh and decide to sketch to keep my mind busy and away from sad and scary thoughts about the possibility of losing one of my best friends. I'll be home soon.


End file.
